Halftime recap: UT 42, Memphis 7

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

Tennessee running back Bryce Brown (11) dives in for the first touchdown of the night against Memphis on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 at Neyland Stadium.

The first half was all Tennessee – from the moment David Oku returned the opening kickoff 69 yards to the Memphis 24.

The Vols scored touchdowns on six of their seven possessions in the half. The only exception was when Memphis stopped Montario Hardesty on fourth-and-2 with the score 14-0.

That was a minor inconvenience.

The beatdown resumed on Tennessee’s next drive.

Memphis contributed two turnovers to the avalanche.

Jonathan Crompton fired touchdown passes to four different receivers:

To Denarius Moore for 17 yards.

To Luke Stocker for 23 yards.

To Quintin Hancock for 4 yards.

To Nu’Keese Richardson for 14 yards.

Crompton and Bryce Brown each had 1-yard TD runs.

Eric Berry even grabbed an interception, but his return was limited to 8 yards. He still needs 7 yards to break the NCAA career return-yardage record.

Memphis awoke for a hurry-up 88 yard drive at the end of the half. Marcus Hightower got the touchdown on a 36-yard run.

That left it 35-7 with only 58 seconds on the clock. That was enough time for the Vols to race back to the end zone for Crompton’s quarterback dive with 4 seconds to play to make it 42-7.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!