Nobody knows quite what to expect when an anticipated record crowd settles in Saturday for No. 17 Tennessee’s showdown against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway, which has been temporarily converted into a football stadium.
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Quarterback Joshua Dobbs was responsible for five touchdowns – three passing and two rushing.
Momentum shifted to the Orange and White sideline in the second quarter after the Vols forced a fumble, which was recovered by safety Micah Abernathy at the Hokie five-yard line. Quarterback Jerod Evans must take care of the ball better after accounting for two of the Hokies’ four lost fumbles versus Liberty, but he offset those miscues by going 20-of-32 for 221 yards and four touchdowns.
The No. 17 Vols (1-0) will try and get back on track Saturday night, but they await a much stiffer test in Virginia Tech (1-0). Much like the opener, Bob Shoop’s group got off to a scary start as Virginia Tech rolled up 204 yards of offense in the first quarter.
In route to their 45-24 win over Virginia Tech, the No. 14/17 Vols had two players rewrite their names into the record books.
Tennessee’s next three drives resulted in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Dobbs to Malone, an Aaron Medley 34-yard field goal and a Dobbs 5-yard touchdown run.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies simply must do a better job of protecting the football.
At that point, despite the surroundings, Tennessee didn’t need to be flashy.
At one point, Ramsey said he had forgotten the words to one of his songs because he had looked out into the audience and realized the massive size of Friday night’s crowd.
They jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Hokies, meanwhile, played their first game without Frank Beamer as coach since 1986, beginning the Justin Fuente era with a 36-13 victory over FCS member Liberty.
Though the crowd of 156,990 set a record for college football, Tennessee plays in front of more than 100,000 at home. The Vols finally got a first down on their next possession, but they could not keep it going and had to punt again. We can look back 10 or 20 years from now and say we were a part of this.
After a three-and-out, the Hokies made it 14-0 with 2:48 left in the quarter when McMillian raced 69 yards off left tackle, taking advantage of a good seal block and poor run fits by Tennessee.
In the second half, a lack of ball security prevented Virginia Tech from chipping away at the Tennessee lead. “I don’t think (working) from the press box is going to be a problem”, Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said.
“We worked closely with both Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee to design locker rooms that have a unique feel”, Caldwell said.
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But Tennessee reeled off 31 unanswered points, capitalizing on five Virginia Tech turnovers along the way, and turned the second half into its own victory lap. The Vols host OH of the Mid-American Conference before Florida visits Knoxville.
