KNOXVILLE — Daune Morris met the moment Saturday night.
After Tennessee senior running back DeSean Bishop sustained a hip injury midway through the second quarter, Morris delivered a 14-carry, 116-yard performance as the No. 15 Volunteers powered past Kennesaw State 42-9 inside Neyland Stadium. The sophomore from Chattanooga surpassed 100 yards for the first time in his college career with a 42-yard scoring scamper at the 11:16 mark of the third quarter that put Tennessee up 28-3.
“He just played extremely well,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “You guys have seen that from him, and we have great trust in him. He’s grown so much in understanding playing without the ball and then growing inside of the run game, too, pressing and understanding flow and the delivery of blocks and making really good cuts and playing with really good pad level in the end.
“He finished his runs extremely well tonight.”
Morris, who played at Red Bank through his sophomore season before transferring to Murfreesboro’s Oakland, set his previous career best with the 98 yards he amassed on 10 carries last weekend in the 45-24 victory at Georgia Tech. His efforts Saturday complemented the play of freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown while rushing 11 times for 47 yards and a score.