The Tennessee Volunteers open their 2016 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 1, against the Mountaineers of Appalachian State.
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Appalachian State now leads Tennessee 13-3 just before halftime. At the end of regulation, the Mountaineers had gotten the ball inside the Volunteer 40-yard line, however on a play with time winding down under 10 seconds, Lamb was not able to get out of bounds on a scramble to stop the clock.
It wasn’t as easy as it looked: IN trailed 13-12 going into the final quarter.
Exactly nine years after upsetting MI in the Big House, Appalachian State proved that their program’s rich history can not be defined by a single win. 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. All-conference quarterback, Taylor Lamb, is no slouch either, having thrown for 2,387 yards and 31 touchdowns last season, while adding 436 yards and five scores on the ground. “But we found a way to get it to overtime and found a way to win”.
All-SEC cornerback Cam Sutton fumbled a punt to set up Appalachian State’s first score. Tennessee turned the ball over twice and it could have been more. And if not for Jalen Hurd recovering the ball in the end zone, Dobbs’ fumble at the goal line in overtime might have been the biggest mistake of the game.
In Thursday night’s college football action, the Tennessee Volunteers were on upset alert courtesy of Appalachian State.
Jones also was miffed by what he viewed as a questionable decision by the officials in the second quarter, when Jalen Hurd was almost done with a run into the red zone when referee Marc Curles blew the play dead and indicated the replay booth buzzed down to review Josh Smith’s 29-yard catch.
Had the Mountaineers not missed an extra point in the second quarter, there probably wouldn’t have been an overtime in which Tennessee could salvage the night.
Paterno coached at Penn State for 46 seasons, becoming college football’s winningest coach.
Once again Tennessee had to settle for a field goal with three minutes left in the third quarter. Aaron Medley’s made field goals (23, 39) extra points were enormous in a game where points were hard to come by.
The reception was overturned, and quarterback Josh Dobbs tossed an interception to ruin any chance Tennessee had of scoring before halftime. Mountaineers senior RB Marcus Cox ranks fourth in school history with 4,203 rushing yards.
South Carolina’s kicker, Elliot Fry would come up in the fourth quarter with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game.
Dobbs finished 16 of 29 passing for 192 yards. For Vols’ runningbacks, Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara are returning. Alex Gardner had a 1-yard rushing touchdown for the Panthers, who were outgained 486-331. They will travel to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Battle at Bristol against Virginia Tech next Saturday, September 10th.
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NO. 19 LOUISVILLE 70, CHARLOTTE 14: Lamar Jackson accounted for a school-record eight touchdowns and 405 offensive yards by halftime to help No. 19 Louisville dismantle Charlotte in the season opener for both teams. He completed 10 of 18 passes in the first half, though it only amounted to 75 yards.
