What once was lost has now been found.
Tennessee relinquished its grip as college football’s fastest-starting team last season, going the entire month of October without scoring a single first-half point, but the Volunteers are off and running as effectively as ever in Josh Heupel’s fifth year at the helm. They have opened on offense in all four games and have scored on every initial possession, amassing three touchdowns and a field goal.
The average length of time for Tennessee’s opening score? Two minutes and 10 seconds.
“That just makes us want to go out there and get a three-and-out so our offense can go do that over and over again and keep scoring,” Vols senior defensive tackle Bryson Eason said this week during a news conference. “Even if they didn’t score quickly, we want them to know we still have their backs regardless, but sometimes they’ll start scoring so much that we want to get some points on the board, too.
“It’s having fun and being competitive with the other side of the ball.”