The SEC has cleared up one of the strangest moments from Tennessee’s 20-17 loss to No. 1 Texas, and the conference says the Vols’ late onside kick should never have counted.
On Monday, the league announced that Tennessee’s successful drop-kick onside attempt with 1:22 left in Saturday’s game was officiated incorrectly. The correct ruling, according to the SEC, would have been a five-yard penalty on Tennessee and a replay of the down.
That sequence came during a wild finish at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee had been down 20-10 late in the fourth quarter before freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon put together an 80-yard drive. He finished it with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Mike Matthews, pulling the Vols within 20-17.
Then came the special-teams chaos. Tennessee punter Jackson Ross tried an unusual drop-kick onside kick, and the ball bounced off Texas receiver Ryan Wingo before Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter came away with it. A flag flew at first, but officials picked it up and gave Tennessee the ball.
The SEC said Monday that the drop kick itself was legal, but the way Tennessee lined it up was not. On a kickoff, the ball has to be kicked from the kicking team’s 35-yard line, and the conference said Ross contacted it at least one yard behind that spot.
The league also said that once the ball was ready for play, Ross could not shift his lateral position between the hash marks unless Tennessee had taken a charged timeout or it was a subsequent kick. In the SEC’s view, that movement after the ready-for-play signal was another rules violation.
So the right call, the conference said, would have been a five-yard penalty and a do-over.
Tennessee still had a chance after the recovery, but its final throw into the end zone was broken up, and Texas left Knoxville with the 20-17 win.
The ruling adds another layer to a game that already featured one of the weekend’s most unusual special-teams plays. For a brief moment, Tennessee’s drop kick looked like the kind of trick play that could flip the whole night.
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Tennessees secondary is dealing with another setback heading into Auburn, with sophomore defensive back Dylan Lewis expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season because of a foot injury he suffered against Kennesaw State. Lewis had already been listed as out in SEC availability reports before the Texas game, and he was later seen in a walking boot, a clear sign the injury was serious enough to keep him sidelined for an extended stretch.
For a defense already managing other season-ending injuries in the back end, losing Lewis only tightens the margin for error. The Vols have had to keep adjusting their depth and rotations in the secondary, and now they head into the Auburn matchup with another important piece unavailable, leaving the coaching staff to sort out how to patch together a group that has been hit hard. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Fans Are Stuck On One Faizon Brandon Debate
Tennessees loss to Texas left plenty of fingerprints on the offense, but the loudest postgame debate has centered on Faizon Brandon and how much of the struggle was really on the quarterback. Brandon finished 17 of 29 for 145 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, yet the bigger number was the sacks, with Tennessees protection breaking down often enough to make the whole night feel hurried and uneven.
Film analyst Brooks Austin pushed back on the idea that Brandon alone was responsible, pointing to a shaky run game and the lines problems up front as part of the picture. Josh Heupel sounded similarly measured, saying Brandon may have been sped up and stressing that the answer has to come from more than one player. For Tennessee, the uncomfortable part is that the debate is still open, and the film may only deepen it. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Weighs In On Tennessees Late Onside Kick Controversy
The late-game onside kick that briefly gave Tennessee a jolt against Texas has now drawn a formal ruling from the Southeastern Conference, adding another layer to an already messy finish. Tennessee punter Jackson Ross used a drop-kicked onside attempt that was initially allowed on the field, and the Vols recovered the ball as the play stood in real time.
The SEC later said the kick should have been judged illegal because of rule violations, and that officials should have enforced a five-yard penalty and replayed the down. The conference also said it will make sure free-kick rules are properly officiated going forward, a familiar refrain after a sequence that left Tennessee with no shortage of reason to wonder how the ending should have unfolded. [Read more 🡒]