BRISTOL, Tenn. — What a game, and what an atmosphere.
Tennessee went to Bristol and played like most expected the Volunteers to play in 2016.
After an opening week performance that resulted in an unexpected overtime win against Appalachian State, question marks circled around the Vols.
Saturday night, Team 120 supplied some answers, responding in a way that will no doubt move them back toward the top 10 in the majors polls.
They didn’t listen to the clutter that surrounded them this week. Instead, they simply cleaned up their mistakes. They did so in a big way, on a big stage – 156,990 – the largest crowd to ever watch a football game.
It wasn’t a stellar start for Tennessee against Virginia Tech, finding themselves in a 14-0 hole to the Hokies, but the Vols sure finished fast.
After the first, it's all Hokies. pic.twitter.com/otINh997mc
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) September 11, 2016
“We didn’t start out like we wanted to obviously, down 14-0, but I really liked the way we responded,” Butch Jones said following the game. “We got a big turnover and then we were able to capitalize off that. I thought (if you) take away the one kickoff return, I thought we did a good job in terms of special teams. We were finally able to run the football and play Tennessee style of football.”
Tennessee responded with an offensive performance and a defensive Orange Swarm attack. The slow start could have been adapting to the atmosphere and eventually finding the one-on-one battles to take advantage of.
“I don’t know that you could ever really prepare for something like this until you get here,” Jones said. “Just with everything — the crowd noise, everything going on. We talked about focusing on the task at hand, playing a very good Virginia Tech football team, and football comes down to one on one battles.”
A tale of two quarters pic.twitter.com/UvVcoA1Ke8
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) September 11, 2016
The Vols showed maturity and composure with their 45-10 run following their two-touchdown early deficit.
“I liked the way we responded being down 14-0, and we’ve talked about hunting the football and taking the ball away on defense and that’s been one of our main priorities,” Jones said. “We were able to do that this year. We talk about playing complementary football and taking the ball away on defense, and that takeaway ended in seven points and not kicking a field goal.
“I thought we were able to do that and seize some momentum that way as well.”
Tennessee caused five turnovers and created 21 points off Virginia Tech’s mistakes.
Josh Dobbs also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark – a mark that makes the offense hard to beat, especially complimenting his run-game with a three-touchdown performance through the air.
Everything is going to be alright for Tennessee after a sluggish Week 1 start against Appalachian State – as Tennessee plays host to Ohio next week before playing Florida.
Tennessee wins their eighth straight for the first time since '98. pic.twitter.com/JK6SSqnTYH
— Dan Harralson (@danharralson) September 11, 2016
Dan Harralson covers Tennessee football for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danharralson.
