Joe Milton III fought through a sloppy game to throw for 228 yards and two touchdowns while running for another, and Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright had 86 and 118 yards on the ground respectively. In the process, Tennessee Football picked up its most hideous win in recent history against an FCS team.
The Vols (2-0) beat the Austin Peay Governors 30-13. Austin Peay (0-2) took a 3-0 lead on the opening drive, and the score was tied at 6 until the final 15 seconds of the first half, when Milton ran for his touchdown, giving UT its first lead of the game.
Coming out of halftime up 13-6, Tennessee Football had another touchdown drive to go up 20-6 and take control. However, the Vols were never able to comfortably put it away, as APSU forced a three-and-out and held the Vols to another field goal in the third quarter.
Then the Governors forced a fumble by Ramel Keyton, which sent the game into the fourth quarter with the score only 23-6. On the opening drive of that quarter, Kamal Hadden came down with an interception. However, the ensuing drive also ended with a three-and-out.
A deep TD pass by APSU cut the lead to 23-13 in the fourth quarter, but the Vols were able to respond with another TD pass from Milton to McCallan Castles. APSU then drove all the way down to the Tennessee Football goal line while running the clock down to a minute before getting stopped on 4th and goal.
In addition to Hadden’s pick, five different Vols had sacks. However, the star of the show was Aaron Beasley, who finished the game with five tackles for a loss, two sacks and nine total tackles, eight of which were solo. The team had 14 tackles for a loss and seven sacks.
Up next for Austin Peay is a return home to face the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers, while the Vols begin SEC play with a trip to the Florida Gators. After reaching the top 10 of both polls last week, hitting No. 9, they’ll have a hard case to make holding that spot on Monday.
