The Tennessee football team did exactly what is was supposed to do against Kent State.
The Volunteers scored early and often in the first half and never looked back en route to a 71-0 win over Kent State in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
Tennessee had 65 points at the half.
The Vols set a new program record for points in a quarter, a new modern era scoring best in a half, and the final point total set a new modern-day record.
“At the end of the day we played good football early,” Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel said. “We came out and played good football in the second half. We got a win.”
It was all Tennessee as the Vols scored 37 points in the opening 15 minutes, and added 28 more in the second.
Dylan Sampson had four touchdowns and finished with 101 yards on 13 carries for the Vols.
“He’s got great vision, has great pace, presses the line of scrimmage, delivers blocks and he’s elusive out in space,” Heupel said. “You combine all those things and you have somebody that can be efficient with the football in his hands. Certainly, I have to give good credit to the five offensive linemen, the tight ends and all the skill guys out on the perimeter are a big part of it as well.”
DeSean Bishop finished with 120 yards on carries with two touchdowns for Tennessee.
“One, he comes into the meeting room and the practice field, he’s the same dude every day,” Heupel said of Bishop. “He’s competing, he wants to grow, and he challenges himself. He responds well to challenges from his coaches. I thought he did a really good job tonight pressing the line of scrimmage, getting to the third level, and creating big plays.”
Peyton Lewis added 99 yards on 10 carries.
Through the air, Nico Iamaleava was 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown – which was a 53-yard strike to Chris Brazzell III.
“I thought he played really well and used his feet when it was time to use his feet,” Heupel said. “There were a couple things early in the football game that we had to drop early in the game over the middle of the football field. He missed on a little RPO, fundamentally not in a great position, but all-in-all he played extremely well and was a good decision maker.”
Gaston Moore threw two touchdowns – a 15-yard strike to Mile Kitselman and a 16-yard pass to Mike Matthews. Moore was 4-for-4 passing for 94 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Tennessee has went 16 consective quarters without allowing an offensive touchdown.
The Vols outgained the Golden Flashes 740-112.
“Tim is doing an amazing job building up our staff,” Heupel said of defensive coordinator Tim Banks. “How our players understand what we are doing fundamentals, technique, playing with them and playing really hard. Challenge was no matter who’s in the ball game you go play to the standard of how we play. To win the fourth quarter, I’m really proud of how we played in the second half.”
The Volunteers are set to travel to Okalahoma to open SEC play next week.