Vols, Hokies play for record crowd in the Battle of Bristol

UT capitalizes on Hokies’ mistakes

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The orange-clad majority of the biggest crowd ever to see a college football game spent most of its night at Bristol Motor Speedway asking itself the same question. “Where was this last week?” Of course, Tennessee fans were asking entirely different questions during a pitiful first quarter.

The 17th-ranked Volunteers overcame an awful start, rattled off 31 straight points during the second and third quarters and benefited from five Virginia Tech turnovers during a 45-24 win against the Hokies in front of a record crowd for a college football game at the NASCAR track.

Tennessee (2-0) managed to get just enough quality play from its leaky offensive line to grind out more than 30 points against Virginia Tech and defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

The Vols also settled in after a shaky start defensively, holding the Hokies to just 100 yards of offense for two-plus quarters after hemorrhaging more than 200 in the opening quarter.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs threw touchdown passes to Jauan Jennings, Josh Malone and Alvin Kamara and ran for 106 yards and two scores, including the dagger from 27 yards out with 6:45 left in the game.

Virginia Tech (1-1) helped the cause with five turnovers — three of them unforced — after its promising start.

The opening frame of the game couldn’t have been more lopsided.

While Tennessee’s offense continued its ugly play from the season-opening escape of Appalachian State, Virginia Tech’s

offense had the Vols off balance on defense with a variety of play selection and creativity.

The Hokies missed a long field goal on their first series, but it only delayed their inevitable success.

To open the second series, Virginia Tech quarterback Jerod Evans hit running back Sam Rogers over the head of backup linebacker Colton Jumper for a 30-yard gain, and Evans later hit Cam Phillips to convert on third down and ran for another first down on third down.

Rogers caught a play-action pass in the flat to finish the drive.

With their first two possessions, the Hokies piled up 116 yards, averaged 5.8 yards per play and converted four of their five third-down conversions.

On the second play of the ensuing series Travon McMillian bounced his run to the edge and found no one home as Tennessee cornerback Justin Martin was caught inside.

McMillian outran two defenders on his 69-yard touchdown run.

The Hokies appeared to be on their way to more when they made a game-changing mistake.

A 10-yard run by McMillian was wiped out by a penalty, and the following play Evans and C.J. Carroll botched a jet sweep handoff and Micah Abernathy recovered at the Virginia Tech 5-yard line.

Jauan Jennings went up to catch a touchdown on the ensuing play, and Tennessee was back in the game.

Tennessee’s defense stuffed McMillian on third-and-1 near midfield on the ensuing possession, and Dobbs broke off a 40-yard run and tossed a 38-yard touchdown pass to Josh Malone to tie the game.

The Vols settled for an Aaron Medley field goal after taking possession at the Virginia Tech 23 following an 11-yard punt, but Tennessee forced a threeand-out and scored just before halftime as Dobbs ran in from 5 yards out.

In the second quarter Tennessee held Virginia Tech to only 30 yards and one first down while piling up 154 yards of offense and scoring 24 straight points.

Tennessee missed a chance to extend the lead when Todd Kelly Jr. forced a McMillian fumble recovered by Corey Vereen, but a series beginning at Virginia Tech’s 29 ended when Medley hit the upright with a 47-yard field goal.

The Vols stretched the run to 31 straight points as Dobbs broke off a 31-yard run three plays before eluding a defender, spinning out of the pocket and finding a wid- open Kamara for an easy touchdown and a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Virginia Tech only mustered a field goal to cut the lead to 14 entering the fourth quarter.

The Hokies threatened to turn a Dobbs interception into a touchdown, but defensive tackle Kendal Vickers hustled downfield to knock the ball loose from wide receiver Cam Phillips’s hands, and Emmanuel Moseley recovered to preserve the two-touchdown lead for the Vols.

Virginia Tech coughed up a fourth turnover when a coverage man ran into punt returner Greg Stroman and Abernathy recovered his third fumble of the game with eight minutes remaining.

Defensive tackle Shy Tuttle recovered a shotgun snap over Evans’ head to set up John Kelly’s short touchdown run as Tennessee padded the lead.

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.