3 takeaways from Tennessee’s decisive Week 1 victory
The Tennessee Volunteers scored a decisive Week 1 victory against the Chattanooga Mocs. The Vols won the game 69-3 and several players had impressive performances, including QB Nico Iamaleava.
Iamaleava went 22-of-28 for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns. The QB was nearly perfect and didn’t even play in the 2nd half. RB Dylan Sampson also impressed, rushing 12 times for 124 yards and scoring 3 times. WR Dont’e Thornton Jr. also impressed, catching 3 passes for 105 yards and 2 TDs.
All-in-all, it was a dominant showing by the Vols, as is to be expected when playing an FCS opponent. Now, let’s identify the 3 main takeaways from the blowout victory.
This offense seems like the real deal
Look, I realize this game was against poor competition. However, if the Vols played poorly against a bad team, they’d be criticized, so I’ll give them flowers when they play like they should.
Iamaleava and Sampson looked better than advertised, while Thornton proved that maybe he wasn’t the problem last year. This offense seemed fluid, open, and dangerous. Josh Heupel himself admitted that the playbook is “wide open” now, implying that it wasn’t last year under Joe Milton.
Anybody who watched last season’s games and compared it to this game would immediately see a difference. Heupel trusts Iamaleave to fully execute the plays, and that makes the Vols dangerous.
Jake Merklinger for QB2
Admittedly, it’s a small sample size, but Jake Merklinger looked better than Gaston Moore. Merklinger completed all 4 of his passes for 31 yards and looked comfortable controlling the offense.
Moore had the team’s lone interception and didn’t find the end zone at all. Not a huge deal, but Merklinger obviously has the higher ceiling so the youngster should be Iamaleava’s backup this season.
The defense could be a real force
Any time you hold an opponent to 3 points, it’s an impressive defensive performance. The Vols racked up 1 sack and 5 tackles on the day. The team also held the Mocs to just 227 total yards and only allowed the team to convert 1 of 14 third-down opportunities.
It will be interesting to see how the Vols’ defense performs against better opponents. However, it was encouraging to see players like Will Brooks, Edrees Farooq, and Dominic Bailey make plays. I expect this defense to get better as the year progresses, which should be a scary thought for the rest of the SEC.
Also, the Florida Gators got creamed by Miami on their home turf and it was absolutely hilarious. Go Vols!