3 new stars emerge for Tennessee Vols offense

Isaac Harker started against EIU, but was pulled before the final series of the first half in favor of Cade Sparks. Tennessee totaled 369 yards on 59 plays, compared to 96 by the Yellow Jackets.

They controlled possession for almost 70 percent of the game: 41 minutes, 23 seconds to Tennessee’s 18:33. These are the grades for each Tennessee football unit following their 42-41 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. This was Johnson’s third swing in the span of three games at a team from the SEC East – he’d won the first two, beating Georgia in Athens last November and then Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Bowl – and he should be 3-for-3.

As tough as it will be for the Jackets to swallow that their offensive dominance left them 0-1 with only five days before they face Jacksonville State, there was one thing that should lift their spirits.

Georgia Tech cut through the Tennessee defense like a hot knife through butter the entire night.

TaQuon Marshall was a revelation. In his team’s upset bid against No. 25 Tennessee, Marshall carried 44 times for 249 yards and a school-record five touchdowns.

“He has always been one of those individuals that plays with great consistency”. Certainly, he was disturbed by his defense – and had arrived at the point of trying to take it completely out of the equation – rightfully I’d say – by going for two in the second overtime. “I was joking with my teammates before the game, ‘I will not lose to that offense again, ‘” Bituli said. I wanted Johnson to succeed at Georgia Tech if for no other reason to see the more traditional option back on a big stage.

Watching the Georgia Tech season opener was a popular way to end Labor Day weekend.

Johnson might have wished his worries about the kicking game were accurate.

After Marshall got to the end zone on a 13-yard run in the second overtime, Georgia Tech made a decision to go for the win right there rather than a tying PAT and a potential third overtime. Georgia Tech used a 16-play, 75-yard drive which took seven minutes off the clock and found the end zone when Benson was true from 1 yard out. Jones said the Vols would spend a lot of time watching the film, but with a short week separating Tennessee from its game Saturday against Indiana State, it makes just as much sense for them to move on and enjoy the relief of no longer having to spend every waking moment thinking about cut blocks. The quarterback had to turn up and there was nobody on the linebacker and then he pitched it late, had to throw it out there. His wrist is kind of messed up.’ I didn’t think anything too bad happened. A pair of Georgia Tech turnovers and a couple of missed field goals prevented the team from winning the game in regulation. But he saved his biggest play for the last when Georgia Tech elected to go for two points in the second overtime. But the Vols finally stuffed the option when it mattered and stole away with an undeserved victory.

“We never created a negative play, so you never get them behind (schedule on down and distance)”, Johnson said.

The Big Orange natives in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium were not at all pleased.

Falling, he flipped the ball to B-back KirVonte Benson, who appeared to snatch the rushed toss – was it a pitch or a pass? – an inch above the turf. He can also promote the idea that we still know nothing about the Vols defense, because we do not.