UT Vols defeat Western Carolina, 55-10

September 19, 2015 at 11:21 p.m. | Updated September 20, 2015 at 3:06 a.m.

by Patrick Brown

UT's Josh Malone carries as Western Carolina'sTrey Morgan approaches Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
UT's Josh Malone carries as Western Carolina'sTrey Morgan approaches Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

Read more

Wiedmer: Neyland crowd deserves game ball for rout of WCU Vols' Jones still has plenty of fans despite OU loss Vols rebound with 55-10 rout of WCU McNeil makes surprising return for Vols FCS trend continues for Tennessee

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee enjoyed an easy outing in a comfortable home win.

The Volunteers better enjoy it while they can.

Another breather like this one isn't coming for a while.

Tennessee showed no signs of a hangover from its disheartening double-overtime loss to Oklahoma last week and handled its business against Western Carolina in a 55-10 win against the Football Championship Subdivision Catamounts in front of another packed house at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.

Up next for Tennessee (2-1) is its first true road game of the season and its SEC opener at Florida.

The Gators, under first-year coach Jim McElwain, have won the last 10 against the Vols, who haven't won at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since 2003.

Most of Tennessee's key players got an abbreviated workload on Saturday night, as the Vols ran out to a 17-0 lead and exploded for 31 points in the second quarter to turn the game into a rout.

Tennessee scored twice on special teams, turned three turnovers from its Southern Conference visitors into 21 points and used the game to work on some of the kinks in the passing game.

The Vols, who managed just 125 passing yards against a Oklahoma defense that Saturday let Tulsa quarterback throw for 427 yards, called for 22 pass plays on their opening 39 plays.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs threw touchdown passes to freshman receiver Preston Williams and running back Jalen Hurd, who added a touchdown run.

Cameron Sutton and Derek Barnett combined to force and recover an early fumble that led to Dobbs's scoring pass to Williams, Hurd scored after an interception and long return by safety LaDarrell McNeil and Alvin Kamara cashed in a fumble forced by freshman defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie and recovered by fellow freshman defensive tackle Shy Tuttle.

Tennessee played an FCS opponent for the sixth straight season and now has won those games by a combined score of 288-49.

The easy nights appear to be over as the Vols embark on three-week stretch that will determine the direction of Tennessee's 2015 season.

After next week's trip to Florida, Tennessee hosts once-ranked Arkansas and division favorite Georgia prior to its only open date of the season.

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

Upcoming Events