KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 15 Tennessee football hosted the Kennesaw State Owls on Saturday night inside Neyland Stadium. The Vols rolled to a 42-9 victory and improved to 3-0 on the season. Duane Morris led all rushers with 14 carries for 116 yards and a touchdown. Arion Carter recorded eight total tackles and a sack. Faizon Brandon put together an efficient 18-for-26 night for 178 yards and a touchdown.
On the ground, Brandon rushed nine times for 42 yards and a touchdown. Tennessee finished the night with 268 rushing yards on 41 carries and four rushing touchdowns. That makes the 38th 200-yard rushing performance in the Josh Heupel era, and the 30th win in a row when accomplishing that.
“Ultimately a good win,” head coach Josh Heupel said after. “Offensively just got to be better in the red zone, but there were some real positives too. And defensively, ultimately kept them out of the end zone, gave them some things here on the early part of the game, first drive. But all in all, a good night.”
Tennessee came out and got Brandon going in the pass game quickly. First play from scrimmage saw a completion to Braylon Staley go for 35 yards. Brandon went on to complete 3-of-4 on the drive for 50 yards, with a 13-yard run mixed in. De’Sean Bishop scored from three yards out, after the Vols survived a sack on 4th and 3 due to a defensive holding call.
Kennesaw State successfully moved the ball down the field against the Vols’ defense on their first drive. Rickie Collins used his mobility to engineer plays and completed 4-of-5 for 43 yards, and he rushed for an additional 23. Zion Booker accounted for 34 of those passing yards. After chewing up more than seven and a half minutes, Kennesaw State settled for three to make it a 7-3 advantage for Tennessee.
Brandon’s composure and ability to use his legs were key. On the second drive, he ran for 17 yards on carries of 10 and seven, using his escapability to turn nothing into nice gains. In the pass game, he leaned on the short stuff. Bishop turned a short completion into a 15-yard gain, and to wrap up the drive, Braylon Staley hauled in a 13-yard completion for a touchdown. Tennessee ran a swinging gate look and Luca Wolf took it in for two, and the Vols went up 15-3.
Tennessee made adjustments quickly on defense and shut Kennesaw State down for a three-and-out on their second drive. They brought pressure on Collins and didn’t allow him to pick and choose what he wanted to do. The Vols then put together a nine-play, 51-yard drive that ended in a Cooper Ranvier 40-yard field goal to put Tennessee up 18-3.
The defense continued to bring pressure and show Collins different looks. Tennessee forced a second consecutive three-and-out to get the offense back on the field. On the next defensive drive, the Vols held the Owls to six plays that ended with a punt. Collins was able to escape for a nine-yard run on the drive, but that was it. The pressure continued to come from each edge to force Collins up the middle.
After Qua Moss returned Kennesaw State’s punt 24 yards to midfield, Tennessee leaned on a decent dose of Morris before stalling at 3rd and 7. The Vols turned it over there, as Kai Russell came off the right edge and forced a sack fumble from behind that the Owls recovered. Tennessee got it right back, though. On the ensuing drive, Tyree Weathersby recovered a Collins fumble to flip possession back to the Vols.
Tennessee ended the next drive with a 43-yard field goal from Ranvier to push the lead to 21-3 before the half. The Vols left some points and yards out there and still took an 18-point lead into the break.
Right out of the half, Tennessee put Kennesaw behind the sticks and forced a three-and-out, with Carter picking up a third-down sack.
Morris kept the run game going, as Bishop was questionable to return after halftime. On the fourth play of the Vols’ drive, Morris took off for a 42-yard touchdown run off the right side, set up by great blocking, to extend the lead to 28-3. The run also put him over 100 yards on the night.
The Vols kept dialing up the pressure on Collins. Jordan Norman recorded a sack to force a punt on Kennesaw State’s second drive of the second half. Bishop returned after that with runs of six and nine yards before Hunter Barnes entered and ripped off a 12-yard gain for a first down.
Brandon then hit Mike Matthews for 18 yards, and after a heavy dose of the run, he capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown run to put the Vols up 35-3. Morris chipped in a 12-yard run along the way. Brandon was composed on the drive, scanning his progressions before taking off on a run.
Kennesaw State responded with their best drive since their opening possession, mixing the run and pass. Tennessee gave up some underneath receptions and Collins moved the Owls right down the field, but once they reached the red zone the Owls had to settle for three. Carson Gentle, Ty Redmond and Amare Campbell made the stops.
Barnes stayed in the backfield on the next drive and tacked on a 38-yard carry to the right, pushing him to 52 yards on just three carries. Tennessee had heavy success running off the right side all night. Barnes capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to put the Vols up 42-6. The Owls would put together a long drive and settle for three to make it 42-9 Vols. That would be the final score.
