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Tennessee

Tennessee football draws record-setting crowd in win over Virginia

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•09/02/23
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(Tennessee Athletics)

The Tennessee Volunteers started to pour it on in the second half against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. Nissan Stadium — the home of the Tennessee Titans, was completely sold out for the game and it showed on the television broadcast, as a sea of Volunteer Orange flooded the stadium. It turns out Tennessee fans were part of a record crowd for the event, 69,507 total fans. It was the largest crowd yet in Nissan Stadium for a sporting event.

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Tennessee overwhelmed the Cavaliers in the second half and really started to pile on the points in a 49-13 beatdown. The Virginia defense gave the Volunteers plenty of problems in the first half, but the Cavaliers’ offensive line struggled mightily throughout the game. Starting quarterback Tony Muskett injured his left shoulder in the second half.

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more in the blowout victory. The Volunteers racked up 491 total yards of offense.

A good chunk of that came on the ground, as Tennessee racked up 279 rushing yards in the win. Jaylen Wright racked up 115 rushing yards on 12 carries. Dylan Sampson had three touchdowns on the ground for the Vols in the blowout.

The game was much closer in the first half, as Tennessee only led 7-0 for a good portion of time. The Cavaliers put up a solid fight and their defense gave the Vols plenty of problems early on.

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Following a decisive score by Tennessee to open up a 42-10 lead on Virginia, the Volunteers had a chance to give star freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava his official college debut.

Iamaleava entered the game against the Cavaliers with 13:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, after starting quarterback Joe Milton had accounted for four total touchdowns. Iamaleava completed two of three pass attempts for 11 yards, while tacking on a run for eight yards.

The former five-star prospect was rated as the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. He was also ranked as the No. 3 quarterback in the class and the No. 1 overall player in the state of California.

Nico Iamaleava is also one of the college football players with the biggest NIL valuation. He checks in at No. 16 on the NIL100, ranking No. 11 in college football. His total NIL valuation is currently $1.1 million.

On3 Staff Reports also contributed to this article.