Another week, another missed opportunity for Texas A&M. And now the heat on Jimbo Fisher may really start to intensify.
On the heels of a disappointing home defeat at the hands of Alabama, the Aggies went on the road and blew another halftime lead in a low-scoring 20-13 loss to No. 19 Tennessee. The loss drops the Aggies to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in SEC play headed into the bye week.
The Aggies have now lost eight consecutive road games and have a combined 8-12 conference record dating back to the 2021 season.
The Aggies had a 10-7 lead at the break but allowed Tennessee to take a 14-10 lead when UT’s Dee Williams returned a punt 39 yards for a touchdown. Texas A&M was punting from its own end zone after Tennessee’s special teams unit down the ball at the 1. After the Aggies couldn’t even muster a yard, the door was opened for Williams to make a big play.
Texas A&M would get a field goal on the ensuing drive, cutting Tennessee’s lead to 14-13, but would never put another point on the board from that point forward.
Neither side played a clean game and the Vols had multiple opportunities to create some distance from the Aggies on the scoreboard. That wouldn’t happen until late.
Texas A&M had a chance to go ahead with a 50-yard Randy Bond field goal with 8:34 to play, but the kick sailed wide left. That gave Tennessee the chance to take some time off the clock and add on a field goal of its own, a 31-yarder from Charles Campbell to give the Vols a 17-13 lead with 3:48 to play.
From there, the struggling Texas A&M offense would have two more opportunities. Neither went well.
Tennessee sent pressure at Aggies quarterback Max Johnson all day, and he had a tough time handling it. Following the Campbell field goal, Texas A&M still had a chance to drive the field and take the lead with a touchdown. But the Vols sent heavy pressure Johnson’s way and he sailed a pass that was intercepted by Tennessee’s Gabe Jeudy-Lally.
Jeudy-Lally returned the interception all the way to the A&M 6, but the Vols could not cash the turnover in with a touchdown. Tennessee took only 54 seconds off the clock and added another Campbell field goal to make it 20-13 with 2:31 to play.
Still, the Aggies had a chance. On this drive, A&M drove out to midfield but Johnson was intercepted yet again — this time on a fourth-and-10 play by Kamal Hadden.
Hadden’s interception sealed the victory for the Vols, who improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC with a trip to Alabama coming next weekend.