Manning played college football at Tennessee and served s the team’s honorary captain for the game. One week after Appalachian State worked to milk the clock against the Volunteers, the Hokies had designs on doing the exact opposite in first-year coach Justine Fuente’s scheme.
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After a slow start Tennessee tapped into its “hunt the ball” preseason mantra and forced five turnovers, with one coming on special teams.
All of the fans said they bought tickets when they first went on sale and have been looking forward to it ever since.
These Vols still face the long-term task of earning some swag that actually means something three months from now, say, at in SEC Championship Game.
Nobody knows quite what to expect when an anticipated record crowd settles in Saturday for No. 17 Tennessee’s showdown against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway, which has been temporarily converted into a football stadium. I expect to see all of the offensive tricks and wrinkles on display at the same fast pace from week 1.
But Virginia Tech fumbled the ball away on the second quarter’s first play, with Evans botching a handoff on a jet sweep, and Abernathy recovered at its 5.
McMillian broke off a 10-yard run on the final play of the opening quarter to give the Hokies a first down at their own 41. The miscue woke up the Vols, who scored on the next play to jumpstart a 24-0 run before the break. And at the same time, Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs started making plays with his arm and legs.
The Vols tied the game on a lovely 38-yard connection between QB Joshua Dobbs and WR Josh Malone with 9:42 left in the second quarter. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. Tennessee will host OH next Saturday beginning at noon.
It took two decades to arrange a college football game at Bristol Motor Speedway – and just 19 days to set up for it. Rawleigh Williams III led all rushers with 28 carries for 137 yards. If Fuente’s offense never really materializes and the linebackers can’t contain the QB and outside run, then it’s going to be a long football game. Tennessee now hold the nation’s third-longest win streak behind Alabama (13) and San Diego State (11), which won 45-40 at California on Saturday night. Virginia Tech’s dominant first-quarter performance showed the Hokies’ potential, but they can’t keep hurting themselves with turnovers and ill-timed penalties.
Last season, in Frank Beamer’s swan song, the Hokies lost just seven fumbles all season. The Volunteers went up 24-14 on the Hokies at the half. Dobbs hit Jauan Jennings on a fade pattern on the next play and Tennessee was on the board 17 seconds into the quarter.
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.
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Shame that only a gimmick, albeit a cool one, dragged these programs from bordering states together for their first regular-season clash since 1937.
