Nico Iamaleava threw two touchdown passes in the first half before leaving with an injury, and Dylan Sampson rushed for his 20th score of the season Saturday night as No. 7 Tennessee stopped Mississippi State 33-14 in Knoxville, Tenn.Iamaleava completed 8 of 13 passes for 174 yards but didn’t return for the second half after sustaining an upper-body injury late in the second quarter. However, the Volunteers (8-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) led 20-7 at the half and weren’t truly threatened by the Bulldogs (2-8, 0-6).Sampson collected 149 yards on 30 carries, going over the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. Tennessee rolled up 452 total yards, split almost equally between rushing (240) and passing (212).Freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. had a rough night for Mississippi State, hitting just 10 of 26 passes for 92 yards with an interception. The Volunteers’ defense applied steady pressure, notching four sacks.Tennessee has tied Texas A&M for the SEC lead, a half-game ahead of Texas. The Volunteers can wrap up a spot in the SEC title game next month by winning next week at Georgia and on Nov. 30 at Vanderbilt.Tennessee took a quick 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the game when Iamaleava and Squirrel White hooked up for a 34-yard strike. It became 14-0 at the 13:35 mark of the second quarter when Iamaleava started a drive by finding Dont’e Thornton for a 73-yard touchdown.
No. 7 Tennessee pulls away late to finish off Mississippi State
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