Tennessee players take the field before an NCAA college football game against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Virginia Tech running back Travon McMillian (34) carries the ball against Tennessee during the first half of an NCAA college football game at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)BRISTOL, Tenn. - The team unable to hold on to double-digit early last season is showing a knack for coming back from them two games into the season.
The result for Tennessee, more importantly, is two imperfect wins.
The Volunteers spotted Virginia Tech a 14-0 first-quarter lead before roaring back to score 31 unanswered points and beat the turnover-prone Hokies 45-24 in front of the largest crowd ever for a college football game in the "Battle at Bristol" on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"We're 2-0. That's our goal," Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs said after a 197-yard, five-touchdown performance. "At the end of the day, every time you step on the field you play to win, and that's your expectation when you step on the field. We're 2-0. We're right where we need to be.
"Each game, you look at it, there's going to be good stuff, there's going to be stuff you need to improve on and we understand that, so we'll take the good and continue to do that, fix the stuff that we can improve and push and fight to be 3-0 next week."
Tennessee fell behind 13-3 in its opener against Appalachian State before rallying to win in overtime, but the Vols, who benefited from five Virginia Tech turnovers, didn't need the drama this week after taking a 31-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
The start to this game, though, was much worse.
Virginia Tech missed a long field goal on its opening drive before scoring on its next two possessions to storm out to a lead. The Hokies had a 30-yard completion to open the first scoring drive. On the second, Travon McMillian bounced outside when Tennessee lost contain and ran 69 yards for a touchdown.
"We had a couple misfits, and that's what happens when you don't fit the run well," Vols coach Butch Jones said. "The ball's going to spit out of there, and those are things we need to get corrected immediately. It can't happen to play winning football.
"I liked the way we responded being down 14-0. We've talked about hunting the football and taking the ball away on defense and that's been one of our main priorities."
After one quarter, Virginia Tech had 204 yards of offense, but the Hokies entered the fourth quarter with just 282 as Tennessee held them to three first downs in the middle two quarters.
"It was really just about settling in," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "A lot of those plays they hit on us in the first quarter were our mistakes and us just beating ourselves. I feel like we weren't settled into the game in the first quarter.
"Once we settled in, we played really great defense."
Turnovers were the undoing for Justin Fuente's team, the first serving as the game's turning point.
Quarterback Jerod Evans mishandled the snap with C.J. Carroll coming in motion on a jet sweep, Micah Abernathy recovered at the Hokies' 5-yard line and the Vols were on the board one play later.
The miscue jumpstarted Tennessee's 24-0 second-quarter run.
"They started off fast, and I think that's something that we didn't do," running back Jalen Hurd said. "Me, Dobbs, Alvin (Kamara) were sitting there talking to our team and talking to ourselves saying, 'Be poised, don't worry, be patient and just play.'"
Tennessee couldn't convert Virginia Tech's second fumble into points as Aaron Medley missed a long field goal in the third quarter, but behind Dobbs the Vols essentially put the game away.
The senior broke free for a 31-yard run and, on third down, eluded a defender, spun out of the pocket and hit Alvin Kamara for a 23-yard touchdown to make it a three-score game.
After rushing for minus-4 yards against Appalachian State, Dobbs was a bigger factor with his legs as he recorded the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career.
"We did some different things this week in the run game," he said, "and our O-line played with the mentality to own the line of scrimmage and dominate the line of scrimmage."
Virginia Tech could have set up a nervy finish, but Tennessee forced a third turnover when defensive tackle Kendal Vickers hustled downfield to knock the ball out of receiver Cam Phillips's hands with the Hokies driving down 31-17 with plenty of time left.
"They had the ball in scoring position," Jones said. "They had some momentum. Our defense had been on the field for a little bit, so to be able to get off the field and create that turnover was big. That's the thing for me that I'm really pleased with is the defense being able to take the ball away.
"That's something that we didn't do much last week. That's something, again, that's been a point of emphasis for us, and we were able to do that. That's great to see. We're going to need that as the season continues to move on. That was a player making a play."
Tennessee tacked on two more touchdowns -- Dobbs applying the dagger with a 27-yard scamper with 6:45 remaining -- after two more Virginia Tech turnovers on a punt return and a bad shotgun snap.
The win made the experience of playing a game in front of nearly 156,990 people at a NASCAR track more enjoyable, even if some of the players were surprised to have a bowl-like trophy ceremony and confetti shower after a regular-season win.
"We played at a race track. We knew what it was going to be," Kamara said.
"We didn't let the environment dictate our emotions and how we played."
Despite winning by 21 points Tennessee remains leaky on the offensive line and faces the potential loss of star middle linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr., who left the game in the second half with an ankle injury.
"I hope we have some good teaching tools to go back and how you focus on the task at hand," Jones said. "The game started very, very fast. I didn't like the way we started, but again, I liked the end of it.
"We have to learn how to have intensity for 60 minutes and not have lulls, and that'll be a point of contention that we'll work on through next week as well."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.