Tennessee Football's equipment truck involved in an accident on I-40 in Arkansas
Tennessee Football’s trip to Oklahoma hit a speed bump on the way home. The Tennessee equipment truck was involved in an accident near where the I-40 and I-30 interstates meet in North Little Rock, Arkansas, according to live-stream cameras from the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
The Vols were traveling back to Knoxville after No. 6 Tennessee’s 25-15 win over No. 15 Oklahoma at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, roughly 340 miles west of Little Rock.
The Tennessee football equipment truck is in a wreck on I-40 east in North Little Rock.
— James Bryant (@KATVJames) September 22, 2024
I assume they were on the way from Norman to Knoxville after the game last night.
All eastbound lanes are currently closed. @MichaelWBratton @BigOrangeVolz pic.twitter.com/nCNVHDrVVr
No. 6 Tennessee (4-0) will be back in Arkansas in two weeks when the Vols play the Razorbacks in Fayetteville on October 5.
Saturday night against Oklahoma (3-1), Tennessee won in Josh Heupel’s homecoming at Oklahoma, where he starred as a transfer quarterback in 1999 and 2000 and also coached for nine years before being fired in 2014 by former OU coach Bob Stoops.
“Good win,” Heupel said during his postgame press conference. “It’s always hard to come on the road against good football teams. And a great environment tonight. Just thought our defense controlled the line of scrimmage. Played relentless. Really tight coverage early and did a great job getting off the field. Changed the way the game was played.
Tennessee’s defense forced seven Oklahoma punts as the Sooners went 3-for-16 on third down. The Vols also recorded a safety for a second straight game, forced three turnovers and finished the night with three sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Nico Iamaleava completed 13 of 21 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown and Tennessee ran 52 times as a team for 151 yards and a score, led by 92 yards and a touchdown from Dylan Sampson on his 24 carries.
The Vols built a 19-3 lead in the second quarter before being content in the second half to run the football and run the clock.
“You can tell in the second half, offensively, our game plan changed as far as possessions (and) time,” Heupel said. “Different than it has probably ever been in my career.”
Up Next: No. 6 Tennessee at Arkansas, October 5
Iamaleava threw a 66-yard touchdown to Dont’e Thornton on the final play of the first quarter and also had pass plays of 38 and 42 yards to Bru McCoy.
“And offensively, created some big plays at times,” Heupel said. “(Oklahoma’s defensive) structure changed from them, which anticipated a little bit. Didn’t know exactly what the structure would look like.
“Gone against him (Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables) enough in my career (to) kind of expect the unexpected. But we adjusted, got some things going in the first half and we put some points up and then second half played pretty tight, just the way it game was unfolding.”
Tennessee flew through the first third of its schedule with wins over Chattanooga (69-3), North Carolina State (51-10), Kent State (71-0) and Oklahoma. Now the Vols have their first bye week of the season before the trip to Arkansas, with four straight home games over a five-week stretch — there’s a second by week on October 26 — following the trip to Fayetteville.
“Great win for the football team,” Heupel said Saturday night. “And proud of the way that we approached the week, how we prepared, how we practiced and how hard we played in there.”
