Tennessee’s first game of the season is in the books, and as expected, the 12th-ranked Vols had no real trouble against Virginia. UT worked through some early season rust and coasted to a 49-13 win.

Also as expected, Nissan Stadium in Nashville was a sea of Tennessee Orange. This was billed as a neutral site game, but the fan split was at least 85% to 15% in favor of UT.

While 49 points and 499 yards of offense look good on the stat sheet, there is still a lot of room for improvement for this team.

Player of the Week: Dylan Sampson

Tennessee has a running back group that most other coaches would envy. In his 1st career start, Jaylen Wright gained 115 rushing yards against Virginia, while Jabari Small chipped in 67. They are the top 2 options for UT on the ground, but sophomore Dylan Sampson is going to get his share of opportunities as well.

Against Virginia, Sampson was 3rd on the Vols with 52 rushing yards, but strikingly scored 4 TDs. Of those, 3 came on the ground and the other on his lone reception. It had been 6 years since a Tennessee running back had that many TDs in a game.

Freshman of the Week: Nico Iamaleava

We could have gone with LB Arion Carter here. He was tied for 2nd on the team in tackles with 4. But Tennessee’s 5-star QB Nico Iamaleava gave fans a glimpse of why he could be Tennessee’s next great signal caller.

Brought into the game in garbage time, Iamaleava completed 2 of 3 passes for 11 yards and had a carry that picked up 8 yards. He led the Vols down the field for a TD on his 1st drive at Tennessee. Vols fans chanted his name. While Joe Milton is certainly the guy for this season, this will be Iamaleava’s team in the future.

Biggest surprise: Tennessee’s defense

Tennessee defenders created havoc in the Cavaliers backfield all day long. Tyler Baron and James Pearce Jr. each had 2 sacks. Wesley Walker and Omari Thomas added 1.5 tackles for loss a piece. Tennessee finished with 11 TFL for a combined 44 yards.

Considering just how good the Vols offense is, their defense doesn’t have to play like the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. But if UT can have more efforts like what we saw on Saturday, they are going to be tough to beat.

Biggest concern: Special teams

What on earth is going on with Tennessee’s special teams?

Dee Williams fumbled a punt. New kickoff man Josh Turbyville had 2 kicks that went out of bounds, giving UVA the ball at the 35. New punter Jackson Ross had 1 punt that went only 17 yards and another that went 27. But did you know he can punt with either foot?

Yes, Williams did have a 55-yard punt return at the end of the 3rd quarter, but Tennessee can’t have a performance from its special teams like the one we just saw when SEC play begins. Opponents that are more talented than the Cavaliers will be able to take advantage of those gifts.

Developing trend: Points a plenty

Watching this Tennessee offense is like a fever dream when you remember the ineptitude on that side of the ball during the Jeremy Pruitt era. Reaching 40 points was a rarity back then, but not anymore.

Thanks to their 49 points against Virginia, the Vols have now eclipsed 40 points in 16 of their 27 games under head coach Josh Heupel. They are 15-1 in those games. Scoring lots of points equals a lot of wins. Who knew?

Key stat: Joe Milton still without an INT

Tennessee’s starting QB had a pretty good day. He was 21-of-30 for 201 yards and 2 TDs. He also ran 8 times for 40 yards and 2 TDs. His numbers would have been even better had Ramel Keyton not dropped what looked like a sure deep ball TD in the 1st quarter.

But one of the most impressive things he did was hold on to the football. Milton has now thrown 174 passes without an INT. Only Hendon Hooker’s 261 passing attempts without an INT in 2021-2022 ranks above him. Turnovers give opponents extra possessions, and having Milton taking snaps is keeping that from happening.

First impression about Week 2 against Austin Peay: Make it quick

Tennessee fans are already looking to the Vols game on Sept. 16 at Florida. UT hasn’t won in Gainesville since 2003, making it 9 straight trips to The Swamp without a positive result. The Vols want that one badly.

But first, Tennessee is keeping some dollars instate with a tune-up against Austin Peay. The Governors lost their season opener 49-23 at Southern Illinois. Neyland Stadium will be packed, and Heupel will want to get his starters some rest as soon as possible. Getting out of that game healthy will be key to changing recent results at Florida.