Typically, even against the worst opponents, I come on here and try to give you a turning point for a game Tennessee Football played in. There’s no way possible to give that today. The turning point was the minute the two teams signed a contract to face off.
Combine that with the Vols’ decision to hire Josh Heupel and the Kent State Golden Flashes’ decision to hire Kenni Burns when both programs did, and this was always going to be the case. As a result, the real turning point happened at the start of the game, when UT kicked off.
From the second that happened, this was destined to be a blowout, and that’s exactly what happened, as Tennessee Football set a program record for points scored at Neyland Stadium in their 71-0 win, points in the first quarter with 37, and points in the first half with 65 for the modern era (dating back to 1937). Kent State had no chance.
You could maybe say that stop on 3rd and 1 on Kent State’s opening drive made it key. The Vols’ seven-play, 73-yard drive for their first scoring touchdown also stood out. Then there was the safety on the bad snaps, which was on the next drive and is truly what broke it open.
None of that matters, though. Rocky Top was always going to win this game in blowout fashion, and that’s exactly what they did. This is probably the biggest talent gap the Vols have enjoyed in history, and they could have hung 100 on Kent State if they wanted to.
That’s not to say this game is without storylines. All the program records and Tennessee Football doing that onside kick in the first quarter will definitely stand out. Overall, though, you could see them actually make an effort to run out the clock in the second half, and they still crossed 70 points. They just weren’t going to lose.
