KNOXVILLE — There were big numbers aplenty Saturday night during 15th-ranked Tennessee's 63-6 trampling of Akron.
The Volunteers racked up 416 first-half yards and 676 total yards. Sixth-year senior quarterback Hendon Hooker compiled a robust efficiency rating of 253.5, and junior receiver Jalin Hyatt produced his first career 100-yard game with ease, amassing 166 yards on just five catches.
Yet the biggest number of all was the packed house of 101,915 inside Neyland Stadium that watched the Vols do the expected by crushing one of the worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Akron is just 4-29 since the start of the 2019 season.
"This was a good, solid win tonight in all three phases, and our fan base was just absolutely electric," Tennessee second-year coach Josh Heupel said. "It was the best 'Vol Walk' I've ever been a part of, and the sellout crowd with all the energy and the noise was just a huge part of this football game."
Saturday marked Neyland's first sellout for a nonconference matchup since Tennessee's 31-24, double-overtime loss to Oklahoma in 2015 and the first sellout for a nonconference foe from outside the Power Five since the 38-7 drubbing of Utah State in the 2014 opener.
Yet it wasn't complete bliss for the Vols, who improved to 3-0 before next Saturday's CBS-televised showdown against visiting Florida. Starting running back Jabari Small and top receiver Cedric Tillman sustained first-half injuries and did not return to action.
Small had two rushes for 14 yards to open the game but suffered an upper-body injury on his second carry.
Tillman went up for a short reception midway through the second quarter and was undercut by Zips cornerback Jalen Hooks, which resulted in the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder from Las Vegas landing awkwardly. He eventually walked off the field without assistance.
"Don't know about Ced at this point, but we're hopeful, and it's the same with Jabari," Heupel said.
Hooker wound up completing 14 of 18 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns, while Hyatt racked up three catches in excess of 45 yards. Both played into the third quarter, when a 1-yard Jaylen Wright touchdown run on Tennessee's initial second-half drive extended the massacre to 42-0.
Backup quarterback Joe Milton III launched a 57-yard touchdown strike to Ramel Keyton on the third quarter's final play for a 49-3 lead.
"There is just a lot of football left to be played," Heupel said of the decision to play Hooker and Hyatt in the second half. "I've been in games where the momentum flips all of a sudden, so starting fast offensively and defensively at that point and pushing the scoreboard felt like the right time to pull them to get our twos in there."
Tennessee took its opening possession 36 yards in 11 plays but came away empty when Chase McGrath was wide left on a 47-yard field-goal attempt. The Vols converted a fourth-and-1 from midfield with a 2-yard Wright carry, but Hooker was just 1-for-4 on the drive.
Following an opening three-and-out by the Zips (1-2), Hooker overthrew an open Tillman down the field but quickly atoned for that with a 27-yard run to the Akron 28 and a 19-yard pass to tight end Princeton Fant to the 9. Wright capped the seven-play, 74-yard drive with a 2-yard run to put the Vols up 7-0.
On Tennessee's third possession, freshman receiver Squirrel White made a diving catch for a 47-yard gain to Akron's 32-yard line. The Vols eventually faced fourth-and-2 at the Zips' 7 but converted and then some when Dylan Sampson took an option pitch from Hooker and reached the end zone for a 14-0 advantage.
Just 20 seconds into the second quarter, Hooker and Hyatt connected for a 57-yard touchdown that made it 21-0 and extended Hooker's consecutive game streak with at least one scoring pass to 15. Only Heath Shuler has a longer streak in program history, having assembled 18 straight contests with an aerial touchdown during the 1992-93 seasons.
Hyatt already has surpassed his season stats from last year.
"There are no shortcuts, and he's a guy who wanted to be great a year ago," Heupel said. "He worked to be great this offseason. He's confident. He understands. I trust him, and this coaching staff trusts him."
Hooker and Sampson made the option work again on a fourth-and-4 that resulted in an 11-yard Sampson score and a 28-0 lead with 6:47 before halftime. The Vols were able to pitch a first-half shutout when linebacker Jeremy Banks caused a fumble that was recovered by LaTrell Bumphus for a touchback.
There was 2:54 remaining when the Vols got the ball at their 20, which was more than enough time for Hooker, who found Hyatt racing through the Akron secondary for a 48-yard score and a 35-0 lead with 56 seconds before halftime.
"I've never been part of anything like tonight," Heupel said. "In the 'Vol Walk,' they're all sitting at the bottom of the hill, but then it's going back up the hill. It was special. It was awesome."
Mitchell returns
After missing the first two games of the season, fifth-year linebacker Juwan Mitchell made his debut and even earned a start, matching his one start in three contests a year ago before being shut down due to a shoulder injury.
Mitchell, who led the 2020 Texas Longhorns in tackles before transferring to Tennessee, was credited with one tackle and one quarterback pressure.
"His week of preparation was really good," Heupel said, "and there were some things we saw early in the football game where he did a rock-solid job."
Odds and ends
Milton finished 4-of-5 passing for 112 yards and two touchdowns, resulting in an efficiency rating of 400.2. ... Senior cornerback Warren Burrell, senior left tackle JJ Crawford, redshirt junior linebacker Kwauze Garland and junior cornerback Dee Williams were inactive for Saturday's game. ... Freshman linebacker Elijah Herring had a pair of sacks in the third quarter. ... Redshirt sophomore receiver Jimmy Calloway was ejected from the game late in the third quarter after throwing multiple punches. "That was disappointing, because it takes away from the rest of the football game," Heupel said. "It's not who we are and what we stand for in any area of our program." ... The Vols are now 3-0 against Akron by the combined score of 162-41.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.