STARKVILLE, MS – Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar had an up-and-down performance but scored the game-tying touchdown as the 15th-ranked Vols beat Mississippi State 41-34 in overtime.
On UT’s game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter, Aguilar completed all six passes for 54 yards and scored on a 6-yard TD run.
He had some good and bad. But it was good enough to help Tennessee improve to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play.
Aguilar kept his 200-yard passing streak going. He has passed for at least 200 yards in all 29 starts of his Division I career, including five at UT and 24 at Appalachian State. That’s the longest active streak in FBS.
Here’s a quick rundown of Aguilar’s performance against Mississippi State on Sept. 27.
Aguilar was 24-of-40 passing for 335 yards, one TD and two interceptions. He also ran for a 6-yard TD with 1:55 remaining to tie the game at 34.
Aguilar is a former Appalachian State standout and UCLA transfer. Through four games as UT’s quarterback, he has completed 65% of his passes for 1,686 yards, 13 TDs and five interceptions.
Obviously, Aguilar’s best was on the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. But he also had a good early connection with Chris Brazzell.
Aguilar and Brazzell entered the game as one of college football’s most prolific quarterback-receiver duos this season. They kept up that momentum with some notable hook-ups, mostly in the first half.
In the second quarter, Aguilar completed a 27-yard pass to Brazzell. Two plays later, he floated a 15-yard TD toss to him. On the next drive, Aguilar threw a perfectly timed pass to the back shoulder of Brazzell, who made a spectacular catch for a 32-yard gain.
Brazzell had 105 yards receiving and one TD. Mike Matthews led UT with 118 yards receiving, including some clutch catches late in the game.
In the third quarter, Aguilar tossed a pass under pressure on a second-and-17 play. It was behind tight end Miles Kitselman, who couldn’t make the catch. The deflected pass was intercepted by Jahron Manning, who returned it 21 yards.
And in the fourth quarter, another Aguilar pass to Kitselman was deflected high into the air and intercepted. Those were Aguilar’s fourth and fifth interceptions thrown this season. And they set up MSU for short TD drives.
The end result was good. But like most of Tennessee’s team, Aguilar didn’t leave with a completely satisfying experience at Davis Wade Stadium.
Criticize Aguilar for throwing the two interceptions. But he deserves just as much credit for completing the clutch throws late in the game and scoring the game-tying TD in regulation.
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