Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd (1) breaks the tackle of Bowling Green’s Terrance Bush (61) for a big gain in the fourth quarter. The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.Read more
Wiedmer: Perfect or not, UT win a good start Vols running backs duo could be crazy good Vols’ secondary sees aspects to improve UT Vols beat Bowling Green, 59-30
NASHVILLE – Eventually they’ll need a nickname. Thunder and Lightning maybe. Rattle and Roll. Fast and Furious.
But for now, in the wake of their twin 100-yard rushing performances, Tennessee running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara appear happy to both be playing significant minutes on the same Southeastern Conference team after leading the Volunteers to a 59-31 win over Bowling Green on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium.
“You really need more than one running back in the SEC,” Kamara said after rushing for a game-high 144 yards and scoring two touchdowns against the Falcons. “We just keep going, keep churning.”
Kamara originally signed with Alabama, redshirted, then transferred to Hutchinson Community College before signing with UT. Hurd, of course, grew up in the Volunteer State, starring at Hendersonville Beech High School before signing with the Vols in the winter of 2014.
Though Kamara got more yards than any Vol ever has in his first game in a UT uniform, Hurd (123 yards) got more touchdowns – three – and appeared to be the more bruising of the two near the goal.
“They really feed off each other,” said third-year UT coach Butch Jones. “When one scores, they all score.”
And it’s hard to imagine the Vols not scoring in bunches the way they ran the football against the Falcons, piling up 399 total rushing yards and 604 yards total.
“There’s a lot of misdirection,” said offensive tackle Kyler Kerbyson, the fifth-year senior from Knoxville Catholic. “And we’re blocking really well right now. But it’s not just us. It’s (quarterback) Josh Dobbs, and Hurd, and Kamara and the wideouts. They were all making plays out there tonight.”
While Kamara admitted, “This was more than I could have asked for,” he also said it went pretty much according to plan.
“We’ve been talking about this night, September 5th, since spring practice,” he added. “Now you can see what our O-line can do and what both of us can do.”
It was impressive. But Kamara predicts it will get even better in the weeks to come, perhaps beginning this coming Saturday evening against Oklahoma inside Neyland Stadium.
“With us on the field at the same time,” he said with a grin, “it’s about to get crazy.”
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com