No. 15 Tennessee holds off 4-TD underdogs OH 28-19

Tennessee has shown a knack for delivering comebacks, but that’s a trait the 15th-ranked Volunteers would rather not have to utilize every week.

The Tennessee Volunteers (2-0) outlasted Virginia Tech Hokies, 45-24, last week.

Tennessee QB Joshua Dobbs: As Dobbs goes, so do the Vols. Tennessee can beat OH without a standout performance from Dobbs, but as the SEC schedule approaches, head coach Butch Jones needs to see if his senior quarterback can win games with his arm. He will need to improve on his 57 percent accuracy against Tennessee if the Bobcats are going to have a chance at an upset, though.

OH coach, Frank Solich, said on Monday that he congratulated Basham when he broke the record and that he’s pleased with how much of a leader the senior has become.

Jalen Hurd was an All-SEC caliber player to open the year and he’s just trying to live up to the vast hype, accounting for 209 yards and a touchdown on 50 carries.

It is critical that the Volunteers avoid yet another slow start on Saturday. “What you see is a football team that doesn’t blink, a football team that keeps playing”. Keeping Dobbs’ carries to a minimum and just going straight ahead with Hurd plays into the strength of the Bobcat defense, 17th nationally in yards per carry allowed after two weeks. “It’s that intensity, starting off with that mentality”. Redshirt freshman Louie Zervos kicked four field goals for the Bobcats (1-2), who fell to 0-27 against Top 25 teams.

Tennessee scored 38 seconds into the game on the first TD pass from Dobbs to Malone.

Tennessee has plenty of talent at wide receiver and tight end, but the Vols’ passing game is erratic and has been for a while.

“I don’t have a goal to go out and beat a ranked football team”, Bobcats coach Frank Solich said at a press conference. Trying to do the math as Appalachian State was running the clock out in the third quarter was a bad experience; if we get into this kind of game again we’ll find OH is no tasty cupcake either.

Tennessee isn’t the only Southeastern Conference program dealing with this issue.

The two teams were neck-and-neck into the second half. This is a good week to work on it, but the Vols have to actually do the work: the game plan and the execution must continue to make forward progress, and if we take a week off from that, we may find ourselves in a similar noon-on-the-SEC-Network fate.

The trend is surprising for a team that faced only one double-digit deficit last season.

Tennessee knows all too well that no lead is insurmountable, no matter who’s in front. He led the country in punt-return average last season at 18.7 yards per return.

“There’s no looking ahead”, Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs said. “We were on the other side of it many times past year when the other team came back and beat us when we were up two scores”. Bristol Motor Speedway became the largest college football site in history with a total number of 156,990 on-lookers.

Jones has wondered whether his players are trying to be too flawless at the start of games and noted that “sometimes the mind can tie the feet up”. It’s a long season.

Tennessee announced his suspension shortly before kickoff.

He also has considered altering the way he structures his practices, perhaps having more team periods earlier in each session to see if it helps his players perform better early in Saturday’s game. Nor can they afford to let their sluggish starts trend into the most hard part of their schedule.