Ninth-ranked Tennessee has been projected as a possible player in the national championship picture.
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Can Tennessee live up to the hype this season?
Tennessee’s comeback prevented Appalachian State from producing another shock nine years to the day after the Mountaineers stunned No. 5 MI in one of the greatest upsets in college football history.
“I am not going to apologize for a win, guys”, Volunteers coach Butch Jones said.
Tennessee learned a valuable lesson the hard way Thursday night.
On third and goal, Dobbs rolled off to the right side and took to the air to try and stretch for the goal line. He dove toward the goal line and was nailed by Mountaineers senior linebacker Kennan Gilchrist and fumbled the ball just shy of the end zone. Do we have to get better? We scored, ‘ ” Dobbs said. Tennessee is hoping to rotate about six defensive ends into the game at various points, which should prevent the Vols from overworking anyone and relying too heavily on defensive end Derek Barnett, who has recorded 10 sacks each of the last two seasons. “It’s going to sting for a while”.
Missouri State wins • Nick Masoner ran for 132 yards and Jason Randall had two rushing touchdowns as host Missouri State trounced NAIA member Southwestern College 57-0.
Kamara had seven rushing and three receiving touchdowns last season, but was limited to just 21 rushing yards Thursday night. The team had a new head coach, and a lot of newcomers on the team. But he was happy with the perseverance. I won’t bore you with the gory details, except to give a hearty hurrah to SC, which now sits alone in first place in the division standings and is safe there for at least a full week. “They didn’t quit”, Jones said.
Tennessee’s march to fulfill lofty preseason expectations nearly got derailed as soon as it started. Add to it a strong offensive line as well as talented depth at the skill positions and we have reason to believe the Vols will be able to move the ball easily.
Trailing 13-6 in the fourth quarter, Tennessee tied the game when Dobbs threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Josh Malone with true freshman Clifton Duck defending in single coverage and 10:30 left in the game.
Appalachian State scored off its second possession of the game, exploiting great field position when Tennessee lost possession on a punt return.
The Mountaineers had difficulty in the kicking game, missing an extra point and two field goals.
The missed opportunities helped negate the chance to notch a huge opening-week upset. They’re going to tell me that App State is a tough club, which made a bowl game previous year. “They came out here and fought”. Cameron Sutton fumbled a punt, which led to Mountaineers touchdown before the Volunteers even touched the ball.
Fast forward to 2016, and the Mountaineers jumped out to a 7-0 lead after recovering a fumble on a Volunteers punt return and then driving 36 yards in five plays. There were plenty of penalties (six, for 55 yards), there was a sloppy interception that Dobbs threw off his back foot towards the end of the first half and an overall lack of passion on either line of scrimmage.
The Mountaineers put together a lengthy drive of their own in the second quarter, capitalizing on tight end Barrett Burns’ 1-yard reception on a fourth-and-1 play from the Tennessee 45.
The Mountaineers pushed their advantage to 13-3 with 8:53 remaining in the second quarter as Lamb floated a ball down the right sideline to Marcus Cox. Jalen Reeves-Maybin was ejected from the game after being tagged for targeting in the first quarter.
For a while there it looked like Appalachian State would pull off the impossible again, as it did nine years ago when it went into the “Big House” and shocked the Michigan Wolverines. Tennessee’s No. 9 ranking is its highest in the preseason poll since being No. 3 to start 2005.
Hurd finished the game with 28 carries for 110 total yards. The career leader is Kevin Richardson (4,804 from 2004-07).
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In a game that was far from easy, the Vols use the “survive and advance” mantra to move on with their first victory of the 2016 under their belts.
