LIVE! Vanderbilt-Tennessee first quarter

The stadium looks surprisingly black and gold, with a tinge of orange here and there. Here we go:

VOLS DRIVE NO. 1
• Kickoff: we stuff Rogan.
• 1st & 10: We stuff Hardesty.
• 2nd & 10. INTERCEPTION, MYRON LEWIS! (14:11)

DORES DRIVE NO. 1
• Vanderbilt 1st & 10 on the 35. We call a timeout. Huh? My son Robert just pointed out to me that when his sister had Mr. Golden, who is a Vols fan, for fifth grade math and science, Vanderbilt beat the Vols. Now Robert has Mr. Golden for fifth grade homeroom. A good sign? I would say yes.
• Here we go again. 1st & 10. Chris Nickson keeps for six (yards not points).
• 2nd & 6. DJ gets about three yards but Brandon Barden called for block in the back. Good to see DJ playing offense.
• 2nd & 14. Incomplete to George Smith (of course) but UT's Rogan called for interference, and Vols were offsides too.
• 1st & 10 on the UT30. Nickson dropped for a loss. Barden looked open.
• 2nd & 15 on the 35. Jennings gets a couple. Come on, let's try to get a score here!
• 3rd & 13: Nickson corralled again. Now we're punting.
• Upson punts down to the UT4.

So Tennessee's offense looks awful and its defense looks great. That's about right. The key will be if we can move the ball on the Vols. Right now we're winning the battle of field position.

VOLS DRIVE NO. 2
• Vols 1st & 10 on the 4. Crompton still in the game. We stuff the fullback.
• 2nd & 8. We hold Hardesty to 3 yards.
• 3rd & 4 on the 10. Crompton keeps but looks like he's just shy of the first down.
• 4th & 1 on the UT 13. Vols going for it... just kidding. Colquitt booms it and Jamie gets about five on a tight return. Nice to see him on the field (though we could have used him on the court on Thursday night).

DORES DRIVE NO. 2
• 1st & 10 on the VU46. Nice run by Jared Hawkins up to the 50.
• 2nd & 6. Nickson gets about 2 on the keeper.
• 3rd & 4. Nickson fumbles reaching for more yards. They'll review it. Didn't look like his knee was down. The Vols are eating Nickson up. That's a fast, strong defense.

VOLS DRIVE NO. 3
• 1st & 10 on the UT 46. BJ Coleman in the game at quarterback. Foster picks up a couple.
• 2nd & 7. Eric Berry takes the snap and picks up a first down. The Vol fans love it.
• 1st & 10 on the VU45 . Berry back in the shotgun. Tackled by DJ Moore.
• 2nd & 8. Coleman in trouble and loses about a yard courtesy of Broderick Stewart.
• 3rd & 9: Coleman in the shotgun. Nice completion to Lucas Taylor but there's a flag on the play. The dorks at Raycom say Stone was offsides, but actually it was a procedure call on the Vols.
• 3rd & 14 around the 50. We got ’em where we want ’em. (Though we need a turnover or we'll have bad field position if we force a punt.) Vols call a timeout.
• Here we go: Dropped pass but he wouldn't have gotten the first. 4th & 14. Washington back to return.

DORES DRIVE NO. 3
• 1st & 10 on the VU17. That fumble by Chris ruined the good field position we were having. We're really having trouble moving the ball. Nickson on the keeper. He gets maybe a yard. (3:30).
• 2nd & 9. Hawkins picks up about 5. We still haven't thrown a pass. Hawkins is hobbling off the field. Great.
• 3rd & 4 on the 26. Nickson sacked. We're really hurting on offense, probably because the Vol secondary has us covered like a blanket.
• Upson's punt nearly blocked but goes for about 50 yards.

VOLS DRIVE NO. 4
• 1st & 10 on the UT35. Creer off to the races, picks up 11.
• 1st & 10 on the UT46. Creer gets about 7 or 8. Again, our inability to strike fast after the turnover and then Nickson's fumble could come back to haunt us. Creer gets another first down.
• 1st & 10 on the VU33. END OF QUARTER. If the Vols take the lead here, we could be in trouble.

PLAYER OF THE GAME SO FAR: Myron Lewis, who tried to get us an early lead. Then our offense took over.