Nashville, Tennessee – After the No. 12 Tennessee Vols scored on their opening drive of the game following memorial tributes to the Cavalier football players killed last season by a former teammate, they seemed to give the visitors multiple chances to stay in this game before dominating them in the second half to overwhelm them in a 49-13 victory. A turnover on downs, two shanked punts, a fumbled punt and kickoffs out of bounds in the first half by Tennessee handed Virginia great field position. Despite the opportunities, the Cavaliers demonstrated poor capabilities in the basics of blocking and tackling to capitalize and overcome the Volunteer mistakes.
Evident poor O-line play by Virginia
Multiple missed tackles on many plays let the Vol offense move at will until costly play would stop their progress. The Virginia offensive line on the right side especially could not keep Tennessee defenders out of the UVA backfield. UT defensive end James Pearce recorded two sacks of starting QB Tony Muskett in the first period to decimate any Cav momentum. Virginia right offensive tackle Ugonna Nnanna tried to hand-wrestle defenders as they blew by him in what my high school coach would refer to a “look-out block” – what you would yell to your QB before he gets sacked. Under former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliot, the Cavalier team lacks many basic fundamentals. In reports after the game, he credited RB Michael Hollins in his return from being gravely wounded in the shooting he recovered from. That was the most positive note regarding Virginia football this day.
The Vols clicked on 8 plays for 62 yards on its first possession when Joe Milton’s five-yard swing pass left to Dylan Sampson put the Vols in the lead early, 7-0. Tennessee, known for a quick, well executed hurry-up offense with Hendon Hooker at QB last season, did not look as efficient with Joe Milton III under center. Guest Game Analyst Bruce Shannon, a UT grad, fan and friend, told me that UT played without their starting center Cooper Mays today. He reportedly underwent a minor medical procedure and was filled in for by Ollie Lane, who had five career starts but never at center, which probably made a difference in their offensive efficiency early today.
Vols couldn’t get going
The Cavs then stopped the next Vol drive on a fourth and one at the UT 29 to take over on downs. It resulted in a 28-yard field goal attended that banged off the right upright to keep UVA off the board. Tennessee’s next drive was highlighted by Ramel Keyton’s wide-open dropped pass bound for an evident touchdown that forced the Vols to punt from the 24. Rugby-style punter Jackson Ross shanked the punt out of bounds for 16 yards.
Because of inept blocking, the Cavs started at the UT 40, but punted from their own 48 after a tackle for loss and a sack. Vols raced through the Cav line on each and every play. The Cavs forced the Vols to punt again to start from their 20, but again they lost nine yards again to punt from their 11. Tennessee’s Dee Williams fumbled the punt return, and the Cavs resumed possession on their 31 to start the second quarter.
Cavs couldn’t stop up front
The very poor Virginia offense gained no yards and put the Tennessee offense back at the seven with a 62-yard punt by Dan Sparks. He outshined his counterpart Ross who shanked another punt to put the Cavs in Tennessee territory at the 46. No matter what Tennessee misfired on to give Virginia field position in their territory, they could not take advantage. Sparks next punt started the Vols from their ten. This time, despite two early penalties, the Vols cashed in with a 13-play drive capped by Sampson’s second score on a three-yard run for 14-0 lead.
Once again, Vol kicking gave the Cavs a break putting them with the ball on their 35. Josh Turbyville’s kickoff went out of bounds. Virginia finally got on the board with Will Bettridge’s 30-yard field goal. With 1:42 left in the half, Tennessee demonstrated on its next possession that it was ready to take control .
Vols dominate after shaky start
Jaylen Wright picked up 37 rushing yards on the drive. Milton completed two passes and plunged in from the one with six seconds remaining for a 21-3 halftime lead. The writing was on the wall for the second half. Virginia had nothing and Tennessee now had the momentum going their way. On a brutally hot, sunny, 90° afternoon in the upper deck of Nissan Stadium, I put away the camera and note pad. Besides setting them aside for the rest of the game, I did something I rarely do. I went to the concession area to get under the shade. and buy cold beers and water for my fellow tailgaters. It was well worth getting out of the sun, standing in line, and buying a few cold drinks for the second half. There was no other relief under the sun for fans or UVA football at Nissan today.
Tennessee’s first two possessions of the second half resulted in a one-yard score by Milton and a two-yard score by Sampson. Virginia finally put up six with a 17-yard scoring run by Perris Jones for a 35- 10 Tennessee lead. Going into the final period, Milton threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Warren. Sampson scored his fourth TD of the day capping a 40-yard drive with a three-yard run. Highly regarded recruit, quarterback Nico Iamaleava, played under center in this final UT scoring drive. Bettridge put up three from 40 to close out the scoring on the day. It was a 49-13 rout by a good team that didn’t play its best. It needs work against a team that looked very inept and looks destined for the ESPN Bottom 10.
Stats
Milton completed 21 of 30 for 201 passing yards and two TDs. Sampson recorded 52 yards on 13 carries and one reception for his four scores. Jalen Wright did the most leg work with 12 carries for 115 yards. Despite some drops, Keyton led UT receivers with three catches for 66. The defense took advantage of poor Virgina blocking with 11 tackles for loss and four sacks, two by Pearce and two by Tyler Baron.
UVA’s Michal Hollins noted by Tony Elliot for his personal comeback from the tragic shooting ran three time for -7 yards. Perri Jones and Kobe Pace matched in rushing each carrying seven times for 39 yards. The Virginia Cavaliers have a lot of work to turn things around for the rest of this season.
The announced attendance of 69,507 today set the Nissan Stadium attendance record for college football. Collegefootballfan.com was proud to be part of another record!
Next!
The Vols host FCS Austin Peay (0-1) in Neyland Stadium next week. So like Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Mississippi State, they’ll take advantage of a weaker FCS competitor. We still won’t know what Tennessee will have for SEC play after that. Against Power Five teams in Week One, they won the only contest in the SEC’s 1-3 record against similar competition. The first two SEC teams they play were among those losers – Florida to Utah and South Carolina to North Carolina. Virginia hosts a strong James Madison from the Sun Belt. Like Nnanna probably yelled to Tony Muskett with a 10.9 QBR for the day, “Look out!”
On the other hand, our game next week falls into a very competitive mode between two FCS teams who played way out of their league in Week One. We venture to Martin, Tennessee to a first-time venue to see the UT-Martin Skyhawks of the Ohio Valley-Big South Conference, 48-7 losers to No. 1 Georgia, host the Missouri State Bears of the Missouri Valley Conference, who lost to highly improved Kansas, 48-17. We have a couple of interesting side stops planned on the way to and from. The meeting should be a very competitive game between two programs we’ve never seen play before. The Skyhawks beat the Bears last season, 35-30. “Look-out!”
