Gray’s Record-Setting Performance Powers Tennessee Past Vanderbilt in Regular Season Finale
Jamal Lewis. Arian Foster. Eric Gray.
All three Tennessee running backs, all three setting marks during their tenures in Knoxville unheard of by freshmen to come before them. For the first time in weeks, it was not the quarterback that was tasked with carrying the Vols’ offense.
Jarrett Guarantano put on the performance of a lifetime a week ago as Tennessee clinched a postseason birth with an unlikely road win over Missouri. His fortunes early on against Vanderbilt at home, however, would not be quite the same.
Luckily for the Vols, Gray was able to pick up the slack.
Gray rushed for a career-high 246 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries and Dominick Wood-Anderson logged three catches for 45 yards and a score as Tennessee overcame early offensive struggles and closed out the regular season by downing intrastate rival Vanderbilt 28-10 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
It marked the most yards on the ground by a UT freshman since Lewis tallied 232 yards against Georgia in 1997.
Guarantano finished 6-of-17 for 120 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception after opening the game by missing his first seven throws. Keyon Brooks led the Commodores with 70 rushing yards on 13 carries.
It was Tennessee’s record-setting freshman running back that garnered all of the attention, and rightfully so.
“If you think about that, a record at the University of Tennessee, think of all the good runners that have come through here,” Pruitt said. “That says a whole heck of a lot about everybody involved.”
The final score may not be indicative, but the Vols were in for a rude awakening on offense to start. Not only did UT have trouble gaining yards, its quarterback was struggling with his decision-making as well.
In stepped Gray, a freshman from Memphis that had yet to log his first career rushing touchdown, let alone go for over 100 yards on the ground. He accomplished both of those feats with 8:36 to play in the opening half.
Seizing the opportunity from the moment the ball touched his gloves, Gray made each of his carries count.
The freshman running back logged 181 yards on 11 carries in the first two quarters alone. His two touchdowns during that span were from 56 and 94 yards out. As a team, the Vols notched 222 yards on the ground before heading to the locker room.
For Gray, it wasn’t just about his ability to find the open seam. It was about trusting his blockers and the game plan that his coaches had in mind.
“That’s just a testament to the (offensive) line. I just came into the game prepared like I always do,” Gray said. “It just broke for me tonight and it’s just a blessing to the offensive line, a blessing to the coaches.”
The blessings would continue to pile up for Tennessee, but fortunes only got worse for Vanderbilt from that point.
The Commodores would find themselves unable to establish a rhythm on the offensive end throughout as Tennessee’s defense made life miserable on graduate quarterback Riley Neal.
Neal completed 14-of-29 passes for 139 yards and one touchdown and rarely had ample time to throw with Derrick Ansley’s defense continuing to mix up its looks up front.
Gray’s dominance didn’t stop after the first half’s conclusion, either.
Picking up right where he left off before the intermission, Gray continued to bully Vanderbilt’s defensive front. At one point, Guarantano moved to the outside and had Gray take the snap from the wildcat.
At that point, he was averaging over 13 yards per carry and Tennessee’s defense had allowed just three snaps in its own territory since the first period. The lone instance in which Vanderbilt crossed midfield between the first and fourth quarters came as a result of a defensive pass interference call.
As Gray continued to thrive, the Vols all followed suit.
The first Tennessee running back to rush for over 200 yards since Arian Foster tallied 223 against the Commodores in 2005, Gray would account for 59 percent of UT’s total offense, including 83 percent of the Vols’ yardage on the ground.
“I just have three words to say about him,” linebacker Henry To’o To’o said. “He’s a dawg.”
Despite the individual brilliance of No. 3, Vanderbilt refused to go away quietly.
A 22-yard pass from Neal to Kalija Lipscomb with 11:34 to play in the fourth pulled the Commodores within 11. Up until that point, Tennessee had yet to find the end zone since the second quarter. The Vols may have been moving the ball, but they were coming up empty on the scoreboard.
That all changed when Jauan Jennings stepped in.
Finding himself wide open across the middle, the senior wide receiver dashed up the right sideline for a 50-yard gain to set Tennessee up inside the Vanderbilt 10-yard line.
On a day where both quarterbacks would combine to complete just 20 passes, it was Tennessee’s most lethal threats that made the plays when needed.
“I think you’ve seen over the last several years with (Jauan) and (Marquez) Callaway,” Pruitt said. “They’re really good competitors...instinctive guys and if you get it close to them they’re going to catch it.”
Gray would cap off the drive with a four-yard touchdown run just plays later, sealing the Commodores’ fate and putting the finishing touches on a remarkable midseason turnaround that saw UT win six of its final seven games, including five straight, to reach the postseason.
After a recent stretch that saw his opportunities dwindle, Gray was able to put together quite the masterpiece. He received three carries or less in five of Tennessee’s last six games, but Pruitt’s confidence in him never wavered.
“Eric has plenty of ability, a lot of times it comes (down) to opportunities,” Pruitt said. “Over the last couple of weeks he looked like his old self. He had a little more pep in his step and it showed today.”
Gray’s biggest takeaway from his tour-de-force? The lessons he has learned since taking his first snap in August.
One of the most productive running backs in his high school class, the three-time Tennessee “Mr. Football” winner found the transition to college far more difficult than he envisioned.
It’s all come together for him though, and for the Vols, it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
“You learn that holes close quick and you have to hit them fast,” Gray said. “I feel like I’ve learned how to be a college running back and just be able to hit the hole fast and bring it when I need to.”
