We all know of Appalachian State for one reason, and as the fates would have it, they played Tennessee nine years to the day of the upset that turned the school into as household a name as any then-FCS program could imagine.
Advertisement
Leading 13-3 at the half, the Mountaineers (0-1) were unable to capitalize on the Vols second half fumbles mishaps which ultimately led to a Tennessee comeback and preventing another all-time upset. As a team, the Mountaineers rushed for 184 yards while holding Tennessee to 127 yards on the ground. In overtime, Hurd recovered Dobbs’ fumble.
“I think you saw determination”. Appalachian State recovered the ball and promptly marched 36 yards, capped by a five yard rushing touchdown by Taylor Lamb.
Wise coaches from all walks of life say, “There’s no such thing as an ugly win”. The Hokies threw 41 passes and ran 89 plays in the win over Liberty. The team is 1-0, which is exactly where they wanted to be after one game.
Tennessee began its rally with a 39-yard field goal by junior kicker Aaron Medley with three minutes left in the third quarter to pull within seven. App State returner Jaquil Capel took the ensuing punt 45 yards, bringing the Mountaineers inside Tennessee’s 30-yard line.
“We’re at the stage now where we can rotate guys in and not have a drop-off at any level”, Sutton said. “Jalen (Reeves-Maybin) is probably their best player on defense, so when a team loses a leader like that, it definitely hurts”. On Thursday, under the weight of heavy expectations, the Vols erased a 10 point deficit and figured out a way to win. Josh Pasley, who missed a 24-yard field goal earlier, missed the extra point.
“On a night where anything and everything went wrong, we found a way to win”, Jones said.
“Our goal was to run the football and control it”.
“We need to execute better”, Dobbs said after the game.
Yet that’s what happened when quarterback Josh Dobbs lost the ball while leaping toward the goal line, only to have Jalen Hurd streak in and wrestle the ball from a pile of Mountaineers defenders.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Kendall Hinton ran for a short early touchdown and Wake Forest overcame some offensive struggles and held on for a season-opening 7-3 victory over Tulane on Thursday night. Heck, if you’re going to argue for a fluke, you can make a pretty convincing one that Tennessee got a fluke win.
“I’d rather he kick the ball as hard as he can”, Satterfield said of his young kicker. These were the big, bad Vols we were hearing about all preseason? We had a rhythm and now it’s taking advantage of those plays. Don’t try to guide the football. Did we do some things that were uncharacteristic? And that’s not to mention Appalachian State’s brutal mismanagement of the clock at the end of regulation. “We’re responsible for what we create so we’re looking forward to that”. They have the personnel, can the coaches get it fixed quickly? But this game, albeit the first one, has rocked Rocky Top back to reality. They just played smart, fundamental football.
Butch Jones barely slept on Thursday night following Tennessee’s season-opener against Appalachian State. “We knew that it was going to be a great challenge. Everything is in front of them”.
Advertisement
App’s offense did not score in the second half due to a stiffening of the Tennessee defense, but they also did not do themselves any favors with the opportunities that they had.
