Tennessee wrapped up its pre-conference slate on Saturday night in comfortable fashion, defeating Kennesaw State handily 42-9 inside Neyland Stadium.
Faizon Brandon was 18/26 passing for 178 yards and a touchdown. He added 47 yards on 11 rushes and another score. Daune Morris paced the backfield with 14 carries for 116 yards and a touchdown. Braylon Staley led all pass catchers with 4 grabs for 59 yards and a score.
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Tennessee opened the game with a methodical eight play, 75-yard scoring drive. DeSean Bishop plunged into the end zone from three yards to open the scoring at 7-0. It seemed easy enough, but the first half would be a bit uneven for the offense the rest of the half.
Kennesaw State put together a nice drive themselves on their first attempt. The Owls dinked and dunked their way 59 yards on 13 plays and took more than half the quarter off the clock. They’d end up settling for a 35-yard field goal to draw to within 7-3.
The next drive, Staley was blocking near the sideline, and he took a cheap shot block from behind by a KSU lineman away from the play and stayed down for a bit. He was able to come back into the game that drive, and he delivered the perfect revenge: a touchdown. Brandon hit Staley crossing the field, and he caught it and turned up for an easy score. Luca Wolf ran in a two-point conversion for a 15-3 lead.
From there, Tennessee’s defense locked in, forcing three punts with two three-and-outs. The Vols extended their lead to 18-3 with a field goal from Cooper Ranvier, but Brandon was hit as he threw and turned the ball over on a fumble in field goal range the next drive. Tennessee would tack on another field goal for a 21-3 halftime lead.
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Arion Carter set the tone to start the second half, with a tackle for loss and a sack forcing a three and out. Four plays later, Daune Morris took any remaining drama left in the game and squelched it out. He ran off tackle to the right and accelerated up the field and through the Owls’ defense for a 42-yard touchdown for a 28-3 lead. Brandon would extend the lead to 35-3 late in the third quarter with an easy scramble to his left for a jog in touchdown.
Next up for Tennessee is a showdown with No. 1 Texas on 9/26 at noon ET in Knoxville.
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