The Vols cruised in a season-opening win over Furman, but the real statement was made by Tennessee before the start of the game
The Tennessee Volunteers kicked off the season with a dominant 56-9 win, but the real statement was made before the game.
The Tennessee Vols enjoyed a stress-free season-opener on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium against Furman.
Tennessee put up 638 total yards of offense in the 56-9 win. True freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon accounted for five touchdowns (three passing and two rushing) in his first career college start.
The Vols will enjoy this win for the night before flipping their attention to a Week 2 matchup on the road against Georgia Tech.
Tennessee’s real statement came before the game even started on Saturday
The Vols certainly sent a message with their strong performance on Saturday, but the real statement was made before the game even kicked off.
When the two teams gathered at midfield for the pregame coin toss, the Volunteers sent out just one captain — linebacker Arion Carter.
Carter, of course, was suspended for the game by the NCAA because of a $427 plane ticket (which he repaid).
Carter’s suspension was recently reduced from two games to one game, so he’ll be available for the Georgia Tech game. Ultimately, the Vols weren’t hurt by the silly decision by the NCAA to suspend Carter over some absolute nonsense.
But it’s still idiotic that he was suspended in the first place. Sending a suspended player out as the only captain was undoubtedly a middle finger to the NCAA.
Kudos to Tennessee for clapping back in a very appropriate way.
The silver lining for Tennessee is that the suspension protected Carter from any potential injuries against Furman. He’ll be even fresher for a big game in Atlanta against the Yellow Jackets.
