The SEC East favorite Tennessee Volunteers are on upset alert in their season opener against the Appalachian State Mountaineers
Everyone who thought the Tennessee Volunteers were going to be one of the best teams in college football in 2016 has permission to panic. They aren’t just losing at halftime in their season opener; the Vols are on upset alert against the unranked Appalachian State Mountaineers. App State, who has a pretty famous upset to their program’s credit already, went into halftime up 13-3 over the favorites in the SEC East.
Things didn’t start out well for the Volunteers at all against the Mountaineers. Though Tennessee was able to stop Appalachian State on the opening drive of the game (App State received), the Volunteers muffed the punt return. That then gave the visiting team a short field that they took advantage of. The electric running back Marcus Cox led the way to the first score of the game, putting Appalachian State up 7-0.
Joshua Dobbs got things started for Tennessee trying to get things rolling from there. He drove down the field as their leader under-center. However, even that effort fell short. They managed only a field goal on the drive, still trailing.
Going for broke, though, the Mountaineers responded by taking risks. They converted on a short fourth-down play. And then they followed that up with a beautiful pass and run-after by Cox again. He found his way across the goal line for another six points—though they missed the extra point.
Even when it looked as if Tennessee might get points to end the half, it ended poorly. Dobbs threw an interception right in front of the end zone to stifle the momentum. That allowed the Mountaineers to secure their 10-point lead through two quarters.
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Thursday night marks the nine-year anniversary of Appalachian State upsetting the Michigan Wolverines in the Big House. Now they have another big upset brewing in the land of orange. They lead 13-3 at halftime and have looked the more dominant team against this ballyhooed Tennessee team. Fans in Knoxville probably should keep holding their breath for the time being.