(UTSports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee takes on Virginia Tech in the much-anticipated Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol on September 10 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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Saturday’s game wasn’t Tech’s first turnover-plagued contest. Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs nearly blends in with the mass of fans in this picture I took. “We’ve obviously got to do a better job either teaching or understanding or emphasizing ball security”. I do think a big special teams play could swing it and I’m predicting that special teams play does not benefit Virginia Tech.
The Vols tied the game on a handsome 38-yard connection between QB Joshua Dobbs and WR Josh Malone with 9:42 left in the second quarter.
Volunteers’ quarterback Joshua Dobbs’ touchdown pass to wide receiver Jauan Jennings on the very next play made the score 14-7. The Hokies have lost nine fumbles through their first two games.
Travon McMillian fumbled on the first play of the second quarter, and Tennessee recovered just five yards from Virginia Tech’s end zone. The Hokies still must show that their offense can have similar success against tougher competition than Liberty.
That’s welcome news for a Hokies defense that had its fewest interceptions under Foster last season and was particularly prone to giving up big chunks of yardage, allowing 71 plays of 20 or more yards for the season. Twelve players shared the previous record at two. Tennessee struggled with Appalachian State all game and required some fumble luck and overtime to escape with a home win over the Mountaineers.
Distractions: For Tennessee and Virginia Tech, pretending this is just another game won’t work.
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.
Dobbs, Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara injected more life into Tennessee’s running game before the end of the half. Lorenzo Harrison scored on a 40-yard run for the Terrapins’ fourth touchdown of the first half. “The way our guys responded, I’m really excited for them”. “That was fun, I nearly lost the ball for a second in the lights, first career catch”, Hills said. The Volunteers scored 21 points off of turnovers, the exact difference in the final score, and had their drives start at the 43-yard line, on average, compared to Tech’s drives which started at the 26.5-yard line on average. “At the beginning, I thought we didn’t do those things and executed well and put points on the board, and then things started going downhill”. Dobbs says he’s feeling fine and will be ready to go.
“We woke up a little bit and played Tennessee-style football tonight”, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.
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Fans not at the game site, but listening in the Tri-Cities area and watching the game on TV, can listen to ESPN Radio Tri-Cities for a delayed broadcast that will match up better with the television delay.
