Vols Struggle in Ugly Win Over Austin Peay, 30-13

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Disgraceful, depressing, dismal, and disheartening are only some of the words to describe how the #9 Tennessee Volunteers played in a 30-13 victory over Austin Peay. A win is a win is a win might be a true statement but the expectations of the fans at the home opener for the Vols at Neyland Stadium was so much less than what anyone had expected.

You almost got the feeling at the beginning of the game that something strange was going to happen as the start of the game was delayed because of inclement weather. It wasn’t till around 5:30 PM ET, that the game resumed. Once the game resumed it looked like Austin Peay (0-2) was the ranked team, not the Vols.

Although you have to give credit to the Governors and their Head Coach, Scotty Walden for coming in with a great game plan on both sides of the football, the complete opposite is true for Vol’s head coach Josh Heupel. One would appear to wonder if Heupel’s team was looking ahead to the Florida Gators, whom they play next week. Either way, the Vols were not ready for this game.

Joe Milton III, who finished 21 of 33 for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns (1 rushing), was not really as effective as the stats indicate. Milton started the game 1 of 8 for 11 yards and after that, most of his passing yardage came on yards after the catch as he continually threw bubble screens to his tight ends and receivers.

Throughout the game, it was mistake after mistake that cost the Vols. 10 penalties for 88 yards, a fumble by Ramel Keyton after a completion near the end of the 3rd quarter, and a defensive collapse that allowed Austin Peay QB Mike DiLielloo to connect with Trey Goodman on a 52 yard TD pass for an easy score were just some of the mistakes they had. Going 3 of 12 on first down opportunities did not help the Vols either as the Governors had possession of the ball for 39:01 of the game had two more first downs than the Vols and ran 10 more plays offensively.

One of the bright spots on the afternoon for the Volunteers was their ability to run the ball as they rushed for a team total of 228 yards while holding the Govs to 79. Jaylen Wright led the attack as he rushed for 118 yards on 13 carries and Jabari Small chipped in with 95 yards on 13 carries. It was the second straight game that Wright has gained over 100 yards on the ground.

The other bright spot on the day was the swarming defense of the Vols, led by Senior linebacker Aaron Beasly who had 9 tackles and 2 sacks on the day. Despite giving up the big play to Goodman, the defense came through in the clutch and was vindicated when they used an incredible goal-line stance with 54 seconds left to keep the Govs from scoring.

Maddux Trujillo gave the Governors a 3-0 lead when he kicked a 45-yard field goal with 11:06 to play in the first quarter. The Vols tied it up at 3-3 when Charles Campbell hit the first of his three field goals on the day. This one from 28 yards out.

After swapping field goals in the second quarter, it wasn’t until 15 seconds were left in the 2nd quarter that the Vols took their first lead of the game. It was Milton taking the snap from 6 yards out and rushing into the endzone to give the Vols a 13-6 halftime lead.

Dee Williams took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half 33 yards to the Vols 34 and then Wright rushed for 60 yards on the drive before Milton hit Keyton with a 5-yard TD pass giving the Vols a 20-6 lead.

The Vols would add on one more touchdown on the day when McCallan Castles scored his first career UT touchdown, a 43-yard pass play from Milton.

Next week the Vols will travel to Gainesville, FL to play the Florida Gators (1-1) who defeated McNeese State 49-7.