Tennessee dominates both lines of scrimmage in win over Virginia

The Tennessee Volunteers' offensive line is alright, it seems. The Vols rolled up 287 rushing yards in the team's 49-13 season-opening win against the Virginia Cavaliers. Without starting center Cooper Mays, who was ruled out this morning while recovering from a medical procedure, Tennessee's offensive blasted open huge running lanes, and it started early. On the […]

Craig Smith — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer

Sep 2, 2023 5:08 PM EDT

The Tennessee Volunteers' offensive line is alright, it seems. The Vols rolled up 287 rushing yards in the team's 49-13 season-opening win against the Virginia Cavaliers.

Without starting center Cooper Mays, who was ruled out this morning while recovering from a medical procedure, Tennessee's offensive blasted open huge running lanes, and it started early.

On the opening drive, starting RB Jaylen Wright ripped off gashing runs of 21 and 14 yards, as the Vols quickly drove into the red zone. The drive ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to RB Dylan Sampson, but the tone had already been set.

After some misfires in the passing game and a fumbled punt by Dee Williams to end the first quarter, the team settled in late in the half and took control with its ground game.

After Sampson capped a 13 play, 90-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, the Vols had one last chance to extend their lead further before the half. Starting on their own 25-yard line with 1:34 left in the half, Tennessee ran a two-minute drill in a rather unorthodox way – with the running game. Wright ripped off runs of 12, 13, 3, and 9 yards that helped Tennessee march inside the Virginia 10. After a Jabari Small touchdown run was overturned and spotted at the half yard line after review, Tennessee's offensive line and Joe Milton bulldozed across the goal line for a 21-3 lead at the half.

For the game, Tennessee ran 52 times to just 33 passing attempts. And why not? It worked all game. The Vols' three-headed rushing attack of Wright, Sampson, and Small carried a combined 38 times for 234 yards (6.2 yards per carry). Wright led the Vols with 115 yards on 12 carries. Sampson found the end zone three times on the ground and once through the air.

But it wasn't just Tennessee's ground game that dominated in the trenches. Far from it. The Vols' defense absolutely harassed and dominated Virginia's offense all game. DT Omari Thomas was unblockable, living in the Cavaliers backfield for much of the game. DE Tyler Baron and LEO James Pearce, Jr. also consistently beat their men, racking up two sacks each. For the game, Virginia managed a meager 96 rushing yards on 40 carries (2.4 ypc).

With key players such as Darnell Wright, Jerome Carvin, Byron Young, Da'Jon Terry, LaTrell Bumphus, Jeremy Banks, and Juwan Mitchell gone, the Vols had questions to answer about their play in the trenches after 2022. From the looks of things on Saturday, it seems like Josh Heupel might have found some pretty promising answers already.