UT Vols beat Bowling Green, 59-30

NASHVILLE – Tennessee appeared on its way to an easy season-opening win.

Bowling Green had other ideas.

The Falcons hung around for most of a toasty Saturday afternoon at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, but the 25th-ranked Volunteers used an efficient running game, timely play from quarterback Josh Dobbs and a big day on special teams to overcome a concerning defensive effort in a 59-30 win in a game that was delayed for more than an hour by lightning.

Tennessee raced out to a 21-3 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Falcons’ pass-happy offense began piling up the big passing plays to score 17 unanswered.

The Vols were up just 21-20 late in the second quarter, but Dobbs drove his team 75 yards, and the defense forced a quick punt. Cornerback Cameron Sutton returned that punt deep into Bowling Green territory to set up Ethan Wolf’s touchdown catch as the Vols took a 35-20 lead into halftime.

The team swapped scores and missed field goals in the third quarter before lightning in the area forced a delay of 80 minutes.

Bowling Green, the two-time defending Mid-American Conference East Division winners, drove the field before settling for a field goal.

After Tennessee’s defense got a stop following Aaron Medley’s second missed field goal of the half – Tennessee also had a second touchdown wiped away by a holding penalty – Alvin Kamara broke a 56-yard touchdown run that extended Tennessee’s lead to 49-30 going into the fourth quarter.

The Vols then put the game further out of reach with a 94-yard drive that Dobbs capped with an 18-yard touchdown.

Kamara ran for 144 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns, Hurd chipped in 110 yards on 22 carries with three touchdowns and Dobbs totaled 294 yards offense and three touchdowns.

The teams combined for more than 1,161 yards of offense.

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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