Virginia Tech vs Tennessee: Highlights, score and recap

Virginia Tech vs Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway was played in front of the largest crowd in the history of college football. 156,990 people watched the Volunteers beat the Hokies on Saturday night.

In front of the largest crowd in college football history on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Virginia Tech and Tennessee duel at the track in a game that was 20 years in the making.

Tennessee’s woes from last week’s overtime win over Appalachian State at home followed them to the race track early on, as the Hokies jumped out to a 14-0 lead.

A Jerod Evans fumble gave the Vols the jolt they needed. Josh Dobbs connected on a short touchdown toss to Jauan Jennings the next play, then the Vols reeled off 17 straight points after to take a 24-14 lead into the break.

Josh Dobbs added a touchdown toss to Alvin Kamara in the third quarter to extend to Volunteer lead to 31-14. The Hokies would add a field goal to make it 31-17, but that’s as close as they got.

The Vols finished the game with a 45-10 run to win it, 45-24.

Three Stars

1. Josh Dobbs – Dobbs didn’t light it up by any stretch of the imagination in the air, but he accounted for five touchdowns (!) and looked fine when the Tennessee offensive line gave him time to throw the ball. He also accounted for 106 of the 242 rushing yards for the Vols on Saturday night. For the Vols to go anywhere this year, he has to be “the guy”.
2. The Tennessee defense – After a 14-point opening quarter, the Vols defense took the Hokies out of the game in the final three quarters. All in all, Virginia Tech committed five turnovers and the Volunteer defense looked strong throughout the evening.
3. Travon McMillian – Despite the loss, McMillian looked really good in the Hokie backfield, rushing for 119 yards on 13 carries, including a 69-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Highlights

The Hokies added another fumble on a muffed punt return and on a bad snap in the fourth quarter, too. That brought the total to five fumbles. Yikes.

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What’s next for the Hokies and Volunteers?

Virginia Tech (1-1) will host Boston College at home on Sept. 17 in their ACC opener, while Tennessee (2-0) heads back home to host Ohio next Saturday before they open conference play against Florida on Sept. 24.