FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A late touchdown run by DeSean Bishop lifted No. 15/14 Tennessee to a 24-17 road victory over Arkansas on Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
Bishop led the rushing attack for Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC), finishing with 19 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown. The Knoxville native broke off a career-long 59-yard run late in the fourth quarter to move Tennessee into scoring position before punching in the game-winning touchdown from eight yards out with 1:57 remaining.
Bishop eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the second straight game and the third time this season, marking his seventh 100-yard rushing performance of his career.
The victory marked Tennessee’s first win in Fayetteville since 2001 and secured back-to-back victories over the Razorbacks for the first time since 2001-02. The win also gave head coach Josh Heupel his 50th victory at Tennessee, moving him past College Football Hall of Famer Bowden Wyatt (49-29-4) for sole possession of fifth place on the program’s all-time wins list. Heupel owns a 50-21 record since taking over the Vols in 2021.
Sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre made his first career start and completed 18-of-29 passes for 247 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The Franklin, Tennessee, native became the first Nashville-area product to start at quarterback for the Vols since Jim Maxwell in the 1971 Liberty Bowl against Arkansas. Of note, Murfreesboro native Jauan Jennings lined up at wildcat quarterback for the opening play against South Carolina on Oct. 26, 2019.
MacIntyre connected with senior tight end Trent Thomas for a 5-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the second quarter. The score marked the first touchdown of Thomas’ 32-game career and capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive.
Arkansas (2-4, 0-3 SEC) answered with a 9-yard touchdown run by Braylen Russell to tie the game at 7-7 in the third quarter before taking a 14-7 lead on a 4-yard touchdown reception by Jaden Platt later in the stanza.
The Vols trimmed the deficit to 14-10 on a season-long, 49-yard field goal by Cooper Ranvier with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter.
Tennessee reclaimed the lead early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore tight end DaSaahn Brame broke loose for a career-long 68-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline before capping the drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown, giving the Vols a 17-14 advantage. Brame finished the day hauling in a career-high three receptions for a career-best 87 receiving yards and found the end zone for the first time in his career.
Arkansas tied the game at 17 apiece with a 55-yard field goal with 7:20 remaining in the contest before the Vols completed the comeback in Fayetteville.
Defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam was a force on Saturday, recording a strip sack and recovering the fumble on Arkansas’ opening offensive possession. The play marked Gilliam’s fifth sack, second forced fumble and first fumble recovery of the season. He finished with four tackles, 1.5 TFLs, one sack, one pass breakup, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Senior defensive back TJ Metcalf led the Vols with a season-high nine tackles.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to Neyland Stadium next Saturday for the Third Saturday in October showdown against No. 6/7 Alabama. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET. The TV network designation will be detemined early Sunday morning.
