Tennessee Football sets Neyland Stadium scoring record against Kent State
Tennessee Football couldn’t stop breaking scoring records Saturday night against Kent State. After setting records in the first quarter and the first half, the Vols broke the Neyland Stadium mark early in the fourth quarter, scoring to reach 71 points on a 21-yard Max Gilbert field goal.
The previous record was 70 points in a 70-3 win over Louisiana Monroe on September 23, 2000. In that game, the Vols scored 28 in the first quarter, 21 in the second quarter, seven in the third and 14 in the fourth.
Tennessee scored 37 points in the first quarter Saturday night, breaking the previous single-quarter record of 35 points set in the first quarter against Arkansas in 2000, a 62-20 win.
The Vols scored 28 more points in the second quarter, ending the first half with 541 total yards at halftime, with 267 passing yards and 278 rushing yards.
Tennessee had 283 yards of total offense in first quarter
Tennessee ended the first quarter with 283 yards, while Kent State had -31 after multiple snaps sailed over the head of quarterback Devin Kargman. Tennessee had 157 yards passing and a touchdown and 126 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, to go with a safety.
Nico Iamaleava completed 9 of 12 passes for the 157 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown on a bomb to Chris Brazzell II, his first touchdown with the Vols.
Dylan Sampson ran 10 times for 66 yards and scored three times on the ground, opening the scoring with a 22-yard touchdown run. DeSean Bishop also had a 53-yard touchdown run. Iamaleava ran twice for nine yards.
Brazzell caught two passes for 63 yards and Chas Nimrod, who got the start, caught two passes for 34 yards. Squirrel White (19 yards), Mike Matthews (17 yards), Dont’e Thornton (11 yards), Bru McCoy (9 yards) and Sampson (4 yards) all had one touchdown each.
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Sampson’s 22-yard touchdown run capped a seven-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to open the game, taking just 1:25 off the clock.
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC
The safety came with 10:35 left in the first quarter, went a high snap from Kent State went from the 24-yard line all the way to the end zone. The Vols couldn’t fall on it for a touchdown, but got the safety for a 9-0 lead.
Sampson ran for a 1-yard touchdown on the third scoring drive, before Iamaleava found Brazzell down the sideline with a perfectly placed deep ball on third-and-12 for the 53-yard touchdown pass to make it 23-0.
Bishop then ran for a 53-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth scoring drive. Sampson ran for another 1-yard touchdown to set the quarter scoring record with two seconds left in the first quarter.
Tennessee had an onside kick after the Bishop touchdown run. The kick went right in a soft spot in the kickoff coverage, with the ball getting through a Kent State player before the Vols recovered.
Tennessee in the second quarter got a 47-yard touchdown run from Bishop, a 14-yard touchdown run from Sampson, his fourth of the night, and Gaston Moore touchdown passes to tight end Miles Kitselman (15 yards) and freshman receiver Mike Matthews (18 yards).
