And while the Vols (2-0) looked in the first quarter eerily similar to the team that almost lost to Appalachian State in their opener, they’ve discovered a deep threat in their passing game that’s been so sorely missing. Evans is 10-for-15 for 97 yards.
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It was a stunning turnaround in front of a record-setting college football crowd of more than 150,000, especially considering the Hokies’ start.
Virginia Tech picks up two quick first down and burns a timeout. Tennessee won the previous bowl meeting in the 1994 Gator Bowl and lead the series 5-3 before Saturday night.
Slye finally stopped a 31-0 run for Tennessee on a 26-yard field goal with 3:41 left in the third period. Tennessee fans were easily the majority in the mass of humanity that celebrated a weekend of music and football at a venue used to hosting motor sports.
The Hokies out-gained the Vols by 70 yards, but Virginia Tech committed five turnovers and Tennessee scored 31 unanswered points in the process. Though the Hokies outgained Tennessee 400 yards to 330, the Volunteers forced five turnovers, made big plays and churned out 239 rushing yards to win, 45-24.
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half in the Battle at Bristol Speedway between the Virginia Tech Hokies and Tennessee Volunteers. University of Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones has said a fast start is big priority. “I think the reality hit our players when we came here yesterday for the walk through with all the campers and trailers again this is truly a special evening that we’ll remember for a lifetime”.
Nov 29, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Josh Dobbs (11) during the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Dobbs ran for 106 yards on 14 carries, one week after being held to negative rushing yards in a 20-13 overtime victory over Appalachian State.
“We’re going to get some good pictures”, Thornsbury said. “In the first quarter, there was really no reason to panic”. I’ll go with the same score the last time the Hokies pulled off a great upset against Ohio State. We haven’t gotten to do a show with Kenny Chesney yet, He’s another East Tennessee boy so there’s just a lot of East Tennessee love. Teammate Micah Abernathy set a school record by recovering three fumbles. All five were fumbles. “We wanted to do it right for them”. Much like the opener, Bob Shoop’s group got off to a scary start as Virginia Tech rolled up 204 yards of offense in the first quarter. VT’s next snap? A fumble (!), which the Vols jumped on and brought to the end zone on the first offensive play to wrap up their scoring.
After Virginia Tech grabbed that early lead thanks to touchdowns from Sam Rogers and Travon McMillan, the Hokies gave the Vols their first gift of the night.
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“We’re doing an unbelievable job of executing”, Hills said.
