Tennessee vs. LSU by the numbers
No. 8 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0) at No. 25 LSU (4-1, 2-0)
11 a.m. CDT Saturday (ESPN)
Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1 Victory for Tennessee in its past 18 road games against SEC West opponents. Since defeating Mississippi State 33-21 in Starkville on Oct. 13, 2007, the Volunteers’ only victory on an SEC West home field came exactly 11 years later when Tennessee topped Auburn 30-24 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. LSU hasn’t lost a home game to an SEC East opponent since a 16-10 setback against Florida on Nov. 19, 2016.
3 Consecutive Tennessee-LSU games in Baton Rouge have gone down to the final play. On Sept. 30, 2000, LSU defeated Tennessee 38-31 in overtime when S Damien James broke up third- and fourth-down passes from the Tigers 4-yard line in the end zone to end the game. On Sept. 26, 2005, Tennessee defeated LSU 30-27 in overtime when RB Gerald Riggs scored from 1 yard out on the final play. On Oct. 2, 2010, LSU defeated Tennessee 16-14 when RB Stevan Ridley scored on a 1-yard TD run on the final play. The Tigers had the opportunity for the winning touchdown after Tennessee was flagged for having 13 defensive players on the field when it stopped LSU on what would have been the final snap of the game.
MORE SEC FOOTBALL BY THE NUMBERS:
3 Consecutive games with a 100-yard receiver for Tennessee, with a different player reaching the milestone in each game. On Sept. 24, WR Bru McCoy had five receptions for 102 yards and one TD in a 38-33 victory over Florida. In the Volunteers’ 63-6 victory over Akron on Sept. 17, WR Jalin Hyatt had five receptions for 166 yards and two TDs. In Tennessee’s 34-27 overtime victory against Pitt on Sept. 10, WR Cedric Tillman had nine receptions for 162 yards and one TD.
4 SEC players in this century have had at least 349 passing yards and at least 112 rushing yards in the same game, including Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, who did so in the Volunteers’ previous contest – a 38-33 victory over Florida on Sept. 24. The other SEC players who have reached those stats in the same game are Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel against Louisiana Tech in 2012, Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald against Samford in 2016 and Ole Miss’ Jordan Ta’amu against Arkansas in 2018.
5 QBs in the nation has thrown at least 100 passes without an interception in 2022, including LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker. Daniels has completed 89-of-131 passes for 915 yards with six TDs, and Hooker has completed 81-of-113 passes for 1,193 yards with eight TDs. The other QBs with at least 100 passes and no interceptions this season are San Jose State’s Chevan Cordeiro, Oklahoma’s Dillon Gabriel and Kansas State’s Adrian Martinez.
5 Consecutive victories for LSU over Tennessee after the Tigers had five victories in their first 28 games against the Volunteers. Tennessee’s most recent victory against LSU came on Sept. 26, 2005, when the Vols took a 30-27 overtime win. The teams most recently met on Nov. 18, 2017, when the Tigers took a 30-10 victory. The Volunteers are playing in Baton Rouge for the first time since Oct. 2, 2010, when LSU won 16-14. Tennessee leads the series 20-10-3.
6 Victories for Tennessee and three victories for LSU when they meet and both are ranked.
7 Consecutive losses for Tennessee against SEC West opponents. The Volunteers haven’t defeated a Western foe since a 20-10 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 12, 2019. Tennessee has a 38-43-1 regular-season record against SEC West opponents since the conference divided into divisions in 1992. LSU has a 47-34-1 regular-season record against SEC East opponents.
8 Consecutive games at Tiger Stadium with pre-noon kickoffs have been won by LSU. The Tigers’ most recent home loss in a game that started before noon came on Oct. 18, 1997, when Ole Miss defeated LSU 36-21 in a contest that kicked off at 11:37 a.m. in Baton Rouge. During its winning streak, LSU beat Mississippi State three times and Appalachian State, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah State and Florida once apiece.
11 Victories without a loss for Tennessee under coach Josh Heupel when the Volunteers were ahead at halftime. Tennessee is 0-6 under Heupel when it hasn’t led at halftime.
16 Consecutive Tennessee games have featured at least one TD pass by QB Hendon Hooker, the second-longest streak in school history. Heath Shuler had an 18-game streak that started in the 1992 season and ended in the 1994 campaign. In the only game he’s played at Tennessee without a TD pass, Hooker threw only once. In the past seven games, Hooker has thrown at least two TD passes in each.
107 Years since Tennessee had as many points four games into a season as the Volunteers have scored in 2022. Tennessee has 194 points this season. Four games into the 1915 season, the Volunteers had 202 points, even though they lost to Clemson 3-0. But Tennessee also defeated Carson-Newman 101-0, Tusculum 21-0 and Centre 80-0 within the first four games of the 1915 season.
559 Yards per game have been averaged by the Tennessee offense in 2022, the highest figure in the nation. The Volunteers also have averaged a national-best of 365.75 passing yards per game.
675 Passing yards have been averaged in Tennessee’s games this season. The Volunteers lead the nation in passing offense with an average of 365.75 yards per game, but Tennessee also ranks last in the SEC in passing defense by yielding an average of 309.25 yards per game.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.