#25 Vols Power Past Bowling Green, 59-30

Sept. 5, 2015

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Highlights Hurd & Kamara Feature Final Stats Notes Quotes Photo Gallery Jones Dobbs Hurd Kamara Reeves-Maybin

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 25 Tennessee ran for six touchdowns and picked up 399 of its 604 yards on the ground en route to a 59-30 victory over Bowling Green in Saturday's season opener at Nissan Stadium.

In a return home to the Midstate, sophomore running back Jalen Hurd ran for three touchdowns as Tennessee opened the 2015 season with its most points in a season opener since scoring 63 against Western Kentucky in 2009. Hurd, from the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, ran for 123 yards. Backfield mate Alvin Kamara also went over the century mark with 144 yards (most-ever by a Vol in his debut) and two scores of his own in his Tennessee debut.

The Vols won their seventh consecutive season opener and have now won 19 of their last 21 openers. Tennessee has now won 21 consecutive openers played in the state of Tennessee, including two in Nashville (2002 and 2015), dating to 1986.

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs threw for 205 yards on 15-of-22 with two touchdowns to Ethan Wolf (11 yards and 18 yards).

Nashville native Josh Malone had three catches for 40 yards. Freshman Jauan Jennings led all UT receivers with 56 yards on three grabs.

The game was delayed 80 minutes in the middle of the third quarter after lightning was detected in the area.

Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson piled up 424 yards through the air, going 27-for-49 with two touchdowns. Gehrig Dieter had a career day with seven catches for 133 yards with a score.

The Falcons had 557 yards of total offense. Tennessee finished with 604 yards, its most since racking up 645 against South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2014.

After giving up and early field goal to the Falcons, Tennessee responded fast with three touchdowns, all on the ground as Hurd ran in from 8 and 1 yards while Kamara went around the left end for a 10-yard scamper. That put the Vols up 21-3 with five minutes left in the first quarter. The three scoring drives came in a total time of 5:19 (for an average drive of 1:46).

Bowling Green responded with the game's next three scores to draw within one point at 21-20 with 5:31 left in the first half. Johnson connected on a pair of scoring passes to Hunter Folkertsma (11 yards) and Gehrig Dieter (31 yards).

Hurd's third score of the game and Wolf's scoring catch pushed the Vols' lead back to 15 at halftime, 35-20.

The Falcons refused to quit as Ryan Burbrink's seven-yard rushing TD capped a five-play, 75-yard drive that pulled Bowling Green to within one score at 35-27 with 11:33 left in the third.

Dobbs found Wolf over the middle for an 18-yard score in the ensuing UT possession and the Vols answered a BGSU field goal with an electrifying 56-yard touchdown run by Kamara.

Tennessee pulled away with 10 more points scored in the fourth quarter off an 18-yard TD run by Dobbs and a 26-yard field goal by Aaron Medley.

The Vols return to action next Saturday as No. 19 Oklahoma comes to Neyland Stadium for a 6 p.m. ET game on ESPN.

For Openers

Tennessee upped its mark to 89-24-6 (.773) all-time in 119 season openers.
The Vols scored their most points in an opener (59) since Sept. 5, 2009, when they beat Western Kentucky, 63-7 in Knoxville.
UT has won its last seven season-openers and 19 of its last 21 dating back to 1995.
The Vols have won 21 consecutive season openers played in Tennessee, dating to 1986.
Tennessee is now 6-1 in season-openers played on Sept. 5. Its only loss came to No. 10 Georgia in 1981.
Saturday's contest vs. Bowling Green marked the second time the Vols opened a season in Nashville. UT topped Wyoming 47-7 in the 2002 opener.
The last time Tennessee began a season in a neutral site was 2012. UT opened that year with a 35-21 win over NC State in Atlanta.
Tennessee began the 2015 season ranked for the first time since 2008 when it opened the year ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll.

Tennessee Captains

Serving as captains for Tennessee today were Joshua Dobbs, Brian Randolph, Curt Maggitt, Jaylen Reeves-Maybin.
Bowling Green won the coin toss and chose to receive.

For Starters

DB Malik Foreman, WR Jauan Jennings, MLB Colton Jumper and DT Kendal Vickers were in the starting lineup for Tennessee.
On special teams, P Trevor Daniel hit the field as a Vol for the first time.
Jennings, of nearby Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Blackman H.S.), got the start in his first career game as a Vol and caught a 19-yard pass on the team's second play of the game. He finished with three receptions for 56 yards to lead UT.

Vols Making Their Debuts

Tennessee played 15 true freshmen in the opener vs. Bowling Green.
Eight true freshmen saw action in the first quarter for the Vols, including WR Jauan Jennings, DB Micah Abernathy, DB Darrell Miller, LB Darrin Kirkland Jr., LB Quart'e Sapp, LB Austin Smith, DB Stephen Griffin and RB John Kelly.
Other true freshmen making their debuts included DL Shy Tuttle, WR Preston Williams in the first half and DL Kahlil McKenzie, QB Quinten Dormady, OL Jack Jones, OL Chance Hall and DL Kyle Phillips.
Seven other Vols saw their first playing time for the Big Orange, including RB Alvin Kamara, P Trevor Daniel and RB Ralph David Abernathy IV in the first half and OL Charles Mosley, OL Dontavius Blair, OL Ray Raulerson and DB Justin Martin.

How The Vols Scored

Tennessee scored its first touchdown of the 2015 season, answering a game-opening field goal by BGSU when sophomore tailback Jalen Hurd carried the ball eight yards to paydirt with 8:59 remaining in the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore tailback Alvin Kamara picked up his first TD as a Vol, racing 10 yards with 7:18 left in the first quarter to help put UT up 14-3.
Hurd vaulted one yard into the end zone for Tennessee's third TD of the opening stanza, putting the Vols up 21-3 with 5:07 to go in the first.
Hurd added his third TD run of the first half, scoring from 13 yards out with 1:52 left before intermission.
Tennessee tacked on another touchdown before the half, as Joshua Dobbs hit TE Ethan Wolf on an 11-yard strike with :24 remaining to put the Vols up, 35-20.
Dobbs and Wolf connected again from 18 yards out early in the second half, putting UT up 42-27 with 11:17 to go in the third frame.
Kamara closed out Tennessee's scoring in the third stanza, breaking away for a 56-yard run and keeping his balance after nearly being tackled inside the 10 to push UT's lead to 49-30 with three seconds left in the third.
Dobbs added a personal TD on the ground with 10:02 remaining in the game, scoring from 18 yards out to push the UT advantage to 56-30.
Aaron Medley, who was eight of eight on PATs, hit a 26-yard field goal to wrap up the scoring for the Vols with 3:08 left, providing the final score of 59-30.

Offense

Tennessee rolled up 604 yards of total offense vs. Bowling Green, marking the first time the Vols eclipsed 600 since carding 645 vs. South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2014.
The Vols finished with 399 rushing yards and nearly hit the 400 mark for the first time since Nov. 26, 1994, when they had 406 vs. Vanderbilt. It is the most since that game.
Jalen Hurd had his second consecutive and second overall multiple touchdown game, hitting paydirt three times vs. Bowling Green in the first half. He had two rushing TDs vs. Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl last season.
Hurd's three rushing TDs are the most by a Vol in a game since Joshua Dobbs had three at South Carolina last season.
Prior to Hurd, Joshua Dobbs was the last player with two or more rushing TDs in the same game, doing so vs. Vanderbilt and then Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Tennessee scored 21 points in an opening quarter for the second straight game. The Vols also lit up the scoreboard for three TDs in the TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Iowa.
Ethan Wolf caught a pair of touchdown passes from Joshua Dobbs (11 and 18 yards), marking the first two scoring receptions of Wolf's career.
Wolf's two-TD day marked the first by a Vol receiver since Von Pearson had two vs. Kentucky last season.
Dobbs finished the day 15 of 22 passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns, posting his fourth 200+ yard passing game.
Tennessee averaged 5.8 yards per carry in the first half, with Hurd rushing for 87 yards on 14 carries and Alvin Kamara netting 72 on 11 tries and finished the game with a 6.2 average.
A pair of Vols playing their first games led the team statistically, as freshman Jauan Jennings had three catches for 56 receiving yards and redshirt sophomore Alvin Kamara produced 144 yards and two touchdowns on 15 rushes.
Quinten Dormady entered the game at quarterback with 8:44 remaining in the game, seeing his first action as a Vol.
Tennessee played a very clean first game, committing zero turnovers and being penalized only four times for 40 yards.
The Vols racked up 29 first downs vs. Bowling Green. Only once during the 2014 season did UT eclipse that total, getting 35 vs. South Carolina.

100 For Kamara/1000 For Hurd

¢ Tennessee produced a pair of 100-yard rushers for the 16th time in school history, as Alvin Kamara carried the ball 15 times for 144 yards, while Jalen Hurd rolled up 123 yards on 23 tries.
Kamara's rushing total is the most-ever by a Vol in his first game.
The last time Tennessee had two 100-yard rushers was in the 2014 game at South Carolina when Dobbs had 166 yards and Hurd had a career high 125.
The last time UT had a pair of 100-yard running backs was 2009, when Montario Hardesty rushed for 160 and Bryce Brown added 104 vs. Western Kentucky.
The duo combined for five touchdowns on the ground, and Joshua Dobbs added another to give UT six TDs rushing.
Kamara is the first UT running back to rush for 100 yards in his first game since Bryce Brown did so with 104 vs. Western Kentucky in 2009.
Hurd hit the 100-yard rushing mark for the fifth time in his career and moved past the 1,000-yard rushing tally. He now has 1,022 in 14 games.

Combining For A Lot Of Points

Tennessee and Bowling Green combined for 89 points, making this the most total points in a UT game since Missouri beat the Vols, 51-48 (99) in 4 OTs on Nov. 10, 2012.
The Vols beat South Carolina, 45-42 in 2 OTs, on Nov. 1, 2014, for a total of 87 last season.
The Tennessee record for most combined points in a game is 104, coming in a 104-0 Vol win over American Temperance University on Oct. 7, 1905.

Defensively Speaking

UT reserve middle linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. nearly produced a safety by the Falcons in the first quarter, sacking quarterback Matt Johnson inside the one for a nine-yard loss.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin sacked Johnson on third down for an 11-yard loss in the second quarter, short-circuiting a BGSU drive deep in UT territory. The Falcons had to settle for a field goal.
Tennessee put the heat on BGSU quarterback Matt Johnson late in the first half, with Corey Vereen deflecting a pass and Danny O'Brien sacking Johnson for a seven-yard loss on successive plays. Cam Sutton came up with a hard hit on a short third-down reception by RB Travis Green to end the drive with BGSU facing fourth and 31 at its own four.
With the Falcons driving deep in UT territory in the fourth quarter, Reeves-Maybin came up with a huge fumble recovery.
Reeves-Maybin finished the game with nine tackles, eight of them solo, and had two tackles for losses, one sack, a fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry.

Special Teams

Sophomore kicker Aaron Medley finished the season-opener eight of eight on PATs. That was a career high, surpassing the previous best of six vs. Chattanooga and South Carolina last season.
Medley was 1-for-3 on field goal attempts, missing from 42 yards with 12:47 to go in the third quarter, missing from 29 yards with 1:06 remaining in the third period and nailing a 26-yarder with 3:08 to go in the game.
Cameron Sutton had three punt returns for a career-high 102 yards in the first half, setting up three touchdowns.
Sutton put the Vols in great position for their second TD of the game, returning a 59-yard BGSU punt 47 yards in the first quarter. It was the second longest punt return of his career behind a 76-yarder vs. Vanderbilt last season.
Sutton's second punt return, a 34-yarder, set UT up at the BGSU 24 for another first quarter Big Orange touchdown.
Sutton had a 21-yard return late in the second quarter to set UT up at Bowling Green's 29 with 1:04 to go. UT scored on an 11-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs to Ethan Wolf.
Redshirt sophomore Trevor Daniel boomed his second punt as a Vol 62 yards and averaged 47.0 per kick in his first action as a Vol.
DB Brian Randolph blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt by BGSU's Tyler Tate with 10:02 to go in the third period, preserving a 42-27 Vol lead.

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