The Tennessee Volunteers shook off the rust from their narrow victory over Appalachian State in the opener, cruising to an easy 45-24 victory over Virginia Tech.
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According to Bristol officials, it took more than 1,500 workers 19 days to transform the speedway into the football arena.
But after last week, a blowout victory in front of the largest college football crowd ever is something to be excited about.
Virginia Tech’s first three drives yielded 198 yards, two touchdowns and a missed field goal. During his football anthem “Boys of Fall”, he welcomed current Super Bowl champion and former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning onstage to autograph an acoustic guitar and give it away to one lucky fan in the crowd.
Another short field aided the Volunteers on their next possession when Virginia Tech punter and Abingdon product Mitchell Ludwig shanked the attempted kick, which measured out to 11 yards.
Tennessee, meanwhile, was able to adjust to the unprecedented atmosphere and focus on its game plan. Virginia Tech also had the edge in first downs (21-16), passing yards (214-91) and offensive plays (73-65).
The 12-point underdog Hokies took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard pass from Jerod Evans to Sam Rogers and less than two minutes later saw Travon Williams bolt 69 yards for another touchdown, placing in jeopardy the Vols’ seven-game winning streak.
The only drama remaining was when roads around Bristol Motor Speedway would finally clear.
Though the crowd of 156,990 set a record for college football, Tennessee plays in front of more than 100,000 at home.
“It’s very special”, head coach Butch Jones said about the experience of playing in the Battle at Bristol.
“We’re doing a turkey leg, it’s a staple for the Hokies and for the UT fans we have an “Old Smokey Dog” which is an all beef frank with cheese on it”, Pierson tells me.
That was before they found their rhythm, scoring two touchdowns in five minutes in the second half, on their way to a 45-24 win to remain unbeaten at 2-0 with OH on the menu next week. Tennessee (2-0) responded by scoring 31 straight points, including 24 in the second period. On the ground, he had 14 rushes for 106 yards and 2 TDs.
Carter’s interception was the third interception return for FIU quarterback Alex McGough. “We’re going to go out and make plays …”
The highest record for an National Football League regular season game is 105,121 – set in 2011 during the Cowboys-Giants game from Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The turning point of the game came when Abernathy recovered a fumble on the Virginia Tech 5 in the opening play of the second quarter.
“We’ve obviously got to do a better job either teaching or understanding or emphasizing ball security”, Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said.
Junior running back Jalen Hurd has now rushed past the century mark in each of his last four games after posting 110 rushing yards against Appalachian State last week. They certainly didn’t have any trouble getting into the end zone, and several players got in on the act.
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Dobbs was almost infallible in front of the enormous crowd, heaving a 38-yard touchdown pass to Josh Malone and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Alvin Kamara before adding a 27-yard touchdown run with less than seven minutes remaining.
