After trailing early, No. 9 Tennessee scored 20 unanswered points en route to a 30-13 victory over a scrappy Austin Peay squad in front of a sold-out crowd of 101,915 on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
The contest, which featured UT’s seventh straight packed house at the historic venue, got underway 28 minutes late after lightning was detected in the area at 4:47 p.m. just prior to the Pride of the Southland Band beginning its pregame show. The teams retreated to their locker rooms and began emerging from their respective tunnels at 5:16 p.m. before kicking off at 5:30.
Linebacker Aaron Beasley was all over the field in leading the UT defense, tallying nine tackles, including eight solo stops, two sacks, and a career-high five TFLs, which were the most by a Vol in a single game since 2004. Kamal Hadden and Warren Burrell recorded takeaways with an interception and fumble recovery, respectively. Hadden also had three pass breakups, as the Vols improved to 2-0 and the Governors fell to 0-2.
Quarterback Joe Milton III shook off a 1-for-7 first quarter through the air, completing 11 straight passes in the second frame to help his team grab its first lead. He finished the night 21-of-33 for 228 yards passing with two touchdowns and also added a rushing score. Wide receiver Ramel Keyton (five yards) and tight end McCallan Castles (43 yards) were Milton’s targets on the TD tosses.
Running backs Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small paced the rushing attack, piling up 118 and 95 yards, respectively, as Tennessee outgained APSU, 228-79, on the ground.
The Vols would fall two spots in the AP rankings to number 11 but will look to impress voters on Saturday as they travel to Gainesville next weekend to face the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
