KNOXVILLE – Midway through the first quarter of Tennessee’s 38-6 whipping of Bowling Green on Thursday night, Volunteers quarterback Joe Milton had so much time in the pocket that he was able to motion to receiver Jalin Hyatt before connecting with him for a 30-yard gain.
If only things could be that comically easy once Southeastern Conference play begins.
Tennessee racked up 475 total yards against the overmatched Falcons of the Mid-American Conference, with 331 of that coming from a ground game headed by running backs Tiyon Evans and Jabari Small, who gained 120 and 117 yards, respectively. Milton rushed 11 times for 56 yards and two touchdowns when sacks are removed from his stat line, but Tennessee’s aerial attack was the definition of erratic.
“I thought the run game operated relatively efficiently,” Vols first-year coach Josh Heupel said. “I thought the pass game was really hit and miss from us tonight. Some of that was the quarterback decision-making and him being accurate with the football, and some of it was the wide receivers needing to be on the same page.
“We had a couple of opportunities to catch it when we didn’t, and we’re going to have to be a whole lot more efficient in the pass game than we were tonight.”