ATLANTA — Tennessee made its annual statement Saturday night that the Volunteers would be an Atlantic Coast Conference football power.
Senior running back DeSean Bishop rushed 20 times for a career-high 147 yards and two touchdowns to lead the No. 18 Vols to a 45-24 thumping of Georgia Tech before a sold-out Bobby Dodd Stadium crowd of 52,113 and a national television audience on ESPN. Tennessee rushed for 299 yards overall on 45 carries, averaging 6.6 per carry, and improved to 2-0.
“We had the opportunity to put the game away with the running game, and we surely did,” Bishop said. “The running game was hot. The first play of the game, I had a 30-yard carry, and we set the tone for the rest of the game with what we were going to do.
“The O-line blocked their tails off. They created huge holes for us to run through.”
(READ MORE: Toughness between the tackles leads UT to dominant rushing night)