No. 9 Tennessee pulls away late to beat Texas A&M 22-7 behind 5 field goals from Cooper Ranvier

DaSaahn Brame had a touchdown catch and Cooper Ranvier made a career-high five field goals to lead No. 9 Tennessee to a 22-7 win over Texas A&M on Saturday.

DeSean Bishop added 97 yards rushing to help the Volunteers, who ranked eighth in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, to their fifth win in six games.

The Aggies led 7-6 at halftime and neither team could get anything going offensively in the third quarter as they combined for five punts.

Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) finally got going and took a 9-7 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Ranvier late in the third.

The Aggies (4-6, 1-6) looked to have forced a punt on Tennessee’s next drive. But Marco Jones was called for roughing the passer to give the Volunteers a first down.

Tennessee took advantage of the error when Faizon Brandon threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brame that made it 16-7 with less than 10 minutes to go.

The Aggies went for it on fourth-and-1 from their 34 on their next possession, but Reed’s pass was incomplete to give Tennessee great field position.

They padded the lead with a 44-yard field goal that left them up 19-7 with about six minutes left.

Ranvier added a 27-yard field goal with less than three minutes to go to make it 22-7.

Texas A&M’s offensive struggles continued as the team punted on its first four possessions of the second half before turning it over on downs. Marcel Reed was intercepted on the next drive, and backup Brady Hart was picked off after that.

Reed was 9 of 22 for a season-low 71 yards as the Aggies were limited to a season-worst 179 total yards.

The Volunteers had a 3-0 lead when K.J. Edwards dashed 25 yards for a touchdown to put Texas A&M up 7-3 early in the second.

Ranvier cut the lead to 7-6 on a 30-yard field goal with about six minutes left in the second. The Aggies had a shot to extend their lead just before halftime, but David Olano’s 50-yard field goal attempt was wide right.

The takeaway

Tennessee: The Volunteers got a convincing win despite struggling offensively for most of the day. They’ll need to score touchdowns instead of settling for field goals if they hope to stay on track and secure a CFP spot.

Texas A&M: The Aggies need to win their final two games against Oklahoma and No. 6 Texas to become bowl eligible a year after an 11-1 regular season that earned them their first CFP berth in 2025.

Up next

Tennessee: Hosts No. 21 LSU next Saturday.

Texas A&M: Visits Oklahoma next Saturday.

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