Although McGough returned with 56 seconds remaining in the first half, Alexander played the entire second half. University of Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones has said a fast start is big priority. “We didn’t get off to the start we wanted to, but we woke up a little bit and played Tennessee-style football”.
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It’s not fair to say Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs established himself.
Joshua Dobbs 5-yard pass to Jajuan Jennings. Tennessee missed a field goal, the only time it didn’t capitalize on Tech coughing it up. “Josh did a good job on putting the ball in position for Jauan and Josh to go get the ball”.
The Volunteers offense definitely needed a spark after their overtime victory in Week 1 over Appalachian State. When Travon McMillan broke free for a 69-yard touchdown run to give the Hokies the two-score lead, more than half of the record crowd of 156,990 sat silenced. “Senior leaders have to step up and be more vocal on those days and make sure that we get it right”. “Jack was one of those and we were looking for a spark, looking for some combinations up front”.
Dobbs tacked on a 27-yard scoring run with 6:45 left for a 38-17 advantage and teammate John Kelly’s 4-yard run 13 seconds later – after the Hokies’ fifth lost fumble on a bad shotgun snap – finished the scoring.
Virginia Tech came in holding opponents to 31% on third down conversions. But two more Hokies fumbles led to two more Vols touchdowns in the fourth quarter. His 40-yard run on the second play of the drive flipped the field and the momentum, reminiscent of some of his best work past year.
The Vols are trying to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2004. He’s a real star, and this season, the Volunteers will go as far as Dobbs can take them. “We had some lackluster possession in the first quarter, but then we just executed”.
The Frogs moved 80 yards in seven plays to pull within 20-14 with 9:44 remaining and, after forcing a three-and-out, raced from their own 16 to the end zone again, mostly on the legs of lightning bug KaVontae Turpin.
McMillian paced the Hokies with 127 yards rushing and the score.
There are still plenty of questions about this UT team, starting with an offensive front that is much more effective when it can get into a running rhythm, and at this point looks like it will be overmatched in pass protection against the SEC’s best. “I’m proud of some things we did out there, but the turnovers and some lack of discipline out there was very disappointing”.
Eight Straight: The Vols won their eighth-consecutive game on Saturday night, the longest winning streak since Tennessee won 14 in a row in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
“There has always been a desire by fans to see a football game at our historic Speedway”, said Bruton Smith, the chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., when the news was officially announced in 2013. One of the fans was an EMT named Paul who graciously offered his help and medical advice and promised to stay with Dustin throughout the process, never leaving his side.
A fumble. Virginia Tech had four against Liberty – losing all of them – and they had five more against the Volunteers – likewise, losing all of them, and Tennessee turned four of those miscues into 24 points.
“We played assignment football on defense”, Jones noted.
However, there are a couple players who significantly stood out.
It was a record for attendance at a college football game and not likely to be broken any time in the future.
“The event in its entirety was fantastic and the environment was exceptional”, Fuente said. “I didn’t think we were going to be blinded by the moment”.
“We had beat ourselves”, Jones said about the first quarter. “It’s something our student-athletes will remember for a lifetime”.
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“We just executed”, Dobbs said.
