Joshua Dobbs passed for three touchdowns and ran for another two as Tennessee routed Virginia Tech, 45-24, in the Battle at Bristol.
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Bristol Motor Speedway lies nearly exactly halfway between Virginia Tech’s campus in Blacksburg, Va., and Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville, Tenn. 156,990 people watched this football game on Saturday night.
Rogers got Tech rolling on the drive. UT is 39-16 in neutral site games played in the state of Tennessee. Saturday: 11:57 a.m.Saturday: 11:25 a.m. At that point, the Hokies was outgaining the Volunteers 193-6.
Following the spectacle at Bristol Motor Speedway in front of a college football record crowd of 156,990, the No. 15 (15 Associated Press) Vols return home to play OH (1-1) on Saturday (TV: SEC Network, noon) at Neyland Stadium.
“Just an unbelievable spectacle”.
A fumble by Hokies quarterback Jerod Evans, however, would give the Vols the ball on their own 5 yard line. Not only did the Vols score 24 unanswered points, but they generated a wide difference in total offense.
Dobbs rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries.
Dobbs was almost infallible in front of the enormous crowd, heaving a 38-yard touchdown pass to Josh Malone and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara before adding a 27-yard touchdown run with less than seven minutes remaining.
“How about our defense getting us five turnovers, ” Jones said.
The Hokies had nine first downs in the first quarter, Tennessee but one. The question was general – “Why are we so bad?!” – but the feeling was more specific.
Gen. Neyland’s first two game maxims say it all: the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win, and play for and make the breaks, and when one comes your way, score. But as Dobbs reminded, “We’re right where we want to be”. At that point the Vols had gone three-and-out twice, then followed up with one 17-yard run by Jalen Hurd and another swift three-plays-and-punt sequence, ending with a declined holding call on Coleman Thomas that moved Dylan Wiesman to center, Jack Jones into the game at right guard, and Sheriron Jones to the sideline spotlight. For the second straight week they were unable to stop the run effectively as this time around, Travon McMillian scampered for over 125 yards.
But Virginia Tech fumbled the ball away on the second quarter’s first play, with Evans botching a handoff on a jet sweep, and Abernathy recovered at its 5.
Bobby Puyol kicked a 38-yard field goal with 9:08 remaining to give the Huskies their first lead at 24-21.
Virginia Tech graduate Jim Harrison of Roanoke said he turned out because he wanted to “see a historic football game”. Virginia Tech’s dominant first-quarter performance showed the Hokies’ potential, but they can’t keep hurting themselves with turnovers and ill-timed penalties.
“We talk to the players all the time about leaving a legacy”, he said.
Tennessee defeated Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl in 1994, and the Hokies returned the favor in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in 2009.
Sans that, Tennessee might’ve been run over on the would-be raceway.
Work began on the speedway’s temporary conversion into a football stadium the morning after a Sprint Cup race three weeks ago.
Butch Jones has won some important and memorable games in his three years, most notably SC in 2013, 2014, and Georgia last year. In that game, the Vols struggled to put away Appalachian State before squeaking by in overtime 20-13.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies host Boston College on Saturday in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
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The ramifications of that decision immediately came into effect as Arkansas glided 58 yards in four snaps to pull within 28-26, and a reverse pass from Keon Hatcher to Allen tied the game at 28-28 with 1:03 remaining. If they continue to build on what they started the last 3 quarters against Virginia Tech they should win against OH easily 42-14. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
