STARKVILLE, Miss. — Tennessee football’s 41-34 overtime win over Mississippi State had a truly remarkable amount of twists and turns with six lead changes and two ties before the Vols finished the job in the first overtime period.
But few swings were bigger than when Chris Brazzell hauled high-pointed a Joey Aguilar deep ball and took it 59 yards for a touchdown to give Tennessee a 27-24 lead late in the third quarter. But the Vols’ fortunes changed when the flag rained down and Brazzell was called for offensive pass interference.
The Mississippi State defender fell down, making it look like a potential good call in live time. But the replay showed very minimal contact and a Bulldog defender that simply lost his footing as Brazzell made a great play.
“Man, they didn’t say anything to me,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on the explanation from the officials. “That would be an interesting play to go watch here.”
Heupel certainly did not like what he saw when he went back and watched the play following his postgame press conference.
I mean… pic.twitter.com/CSk9UrTd1L
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) September 27, 2025
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The call was costly in that it not only took a long, go-ahead touchdown off the board but also backed Tennessee into first-and-25. The Vols were unable to dig out of the hole, gaining 10 yards on three plays before punting on fourth-and-15.
Mississippi State got the ball back as the clock ran out in the third quarter with a chance to score a touchdown and grab a difficult to overcome two-score lead. The Bulldogs especially looked in business when they converted on a fake punt and had a new set of downs at midfield.
But then Tyre West made perhaps the play of the game, hammering Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen and knocking the ball free. Josh Josephs picked it up and strolled into the end zone from 41 yards out to give the Vols the lead.
Tennessee would relinquish that lead before eventually pushing the game to overtime and pulling out a touchdown victory for its first SEC win of the season.
