Live Updates: No. 9 Tennessee 30, Austin Peay 13 (Final)

Tennessee football is finally back at Neyland Stadium. The Vols open their 2023 home schedule against Austin Peay today, a 5 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff streaming on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

Entering today’s game, Tennessee has won nine straight home games, including a perfect 7-0 record at Neyland last season with big wins over Florida and Alabama. The last home loss came on November 13, 2021 against Georgia.

The Vols opened the new season last week with a 49-13 win over Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Austin Peay’s season started Saturday with a 42-23 loss at Southern Illinois. The Govs are playing an SEC opponent for a third straight season. They lost 54-17 at Ole Miss in 2021 and 34-0 at Alabama last November.

FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE VOLQUEST GAME THREAD ON THE GENERAL’S QUARTERS

FOURTH QUARTER

Tennessee 30, Austin Peay 13 (8:03, 4Q): Tennessee struck back in just three plays, going 75 yards with Joe Milton hitting tight end McCallan Castles for a 43-yard touchdown to get the lead back to 17.

Tennessee 23, Austin Peay 13 (9:01, 4Q): Busted coverage in the Tennessee secondary allowed Austin Peay’s Mike DiLiello to hit Trey Goodman for a 52-yard walk-in touchdown, the first of the game for the Governors. The drive went 90 yards on six plays.

THIRD QUARTER

Tennessee 23, Austin Peay 6 (6:33, 3Q): Tennessee added another Charles Campbell, this one from 22 yards, to cap an eight-play, 44-yard drive that took 2:30 off the clock. The drive stalled on the Austin Peay four-yard line with a pair of Tennessee incompletions.

Tennessee 20, Austin Peay 6 (13:30, 3Q): Tennessee got the ball to start the second half and made it back-to-back touchdown drives, going 66 yards on five plays with Joe Milton finding Ramel Keyton on a 5-yard touchdown pass to get back in the end zone. Jaylen Wright had runs of 26 and 31 yards on the drive.

SECOND QUARTER

Tennessee 13, Austin Peay 6 (0:15, 2Q): Tennessee finally got in the end zone with 15 seconds left in the first half, when Joe Milton ran six yards for the score on a quarterback draw on third down. The drive went 67 yards on 11 plays, taking 2:04 off the clock.

Tennessee 6, Austin Peay 6 (4:55, 2Q): Tennessee answered another Austin Peay field goal with a second field goal of its own. This time Charles Campbell connected from 37 yards out to tie the game. The drive for the Vols went 84 yards over nine plays and was fueled by a 38-yard run from Jabari Small. Offensive pass interference on Squirrel White and a holding call on Bru McCoy stalled the drive.

Austin Peay 6, Tennessee 3 (8:16, 2Q): Austin Peay went 67 yards over 12 plays, taking 6:39 off the clock, on its way to its second field goal of the day. This time Trujillo connected on a 34-yard field goal to put the Govs back ahead.

FIRST QUARTER

Tennessee 3, Austin Peay 3 (5:53, 1Q): After back-to-back three-and-outs, Warren Burrell recovered an Austin Peay fumbled punt at the 14-yard line, but the Vols had to settle for a 29-yard field gaol from Charles Campbell to tie the game. Quarterback Joe Milton went just 1-for-6 for 11 yards over Tennessee’s first three drives.

Austin Peay 3, Tennessee 0 (11:06, 1Q): Austin Peay got the ball first and went 48 yards over eight plays to open the scoring with a 45-yard field goal from Maddux Trujillo. The scoring drive was fueled by a 45-yard run by Mike DiLiello on fourth-and-2.

Tennessee vs. Austin Peay: How to Stream

Streaming: ESPN+/SEC Network+ (Justin Kutcher– Play by Play, Dave Steckel – Color Commentator)

Mobile: ESPN App

Radio: WIVK-FM 107.7 and WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville. The Vol Network radio broadcast (Bob Kesling – play-by-play – Pat Ryan, analyst – Brent Hubbs, analyst – Jayson Swain sideline) can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee. 

Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Channel 111 or Channel 204. SiriusXM App Channel 967.

SEC Network+ is not a TV channel, but is a complementary online addition providing content and programming online. Fans can access content on SEC Network+ through the ESPN app or ESPN.com/watch. Viewers must have a cable or satellite subscription and log-in info to gain access to the SEC Network+ stream.

Fans can also watch on ESPN+, the streaming platform from ESPN that requires a paid subscription. ESPN+ is separate from cable or satellite subscriptions. More info can be found here.

Vols missing two important players due to injury

Tennessee on Saturday will be without middle linebacker Keenan Pili and center Cooper Mays for today’s game against Austin Peay, head coach Josh Heupel confirmed on Wednesday.

Heupel ruled Mays out on Wednesday night, adding that the Vols are trying to get him healthy for next week’s SEC opener at Florida. Pili was injured against Virginia, while Mays has been out since August 9.

“(I) anticipate as we go over the next couple weeks, we’ll kind of figure out what the timeline is for him,” Heupel said Wednesday night during his weekly appearance on The Vol Network’s ‘Vol Calls.’ “Hopefully we’re able to get him back here in the middle part of the season. But (he’s) someone that you just hate it for (him).”

Volquest reported Wednesday morning that Pili’s injury will have him sidelined multiple weeks.

“We weren’t sure early in the week the severity of the injury,” Heupel said of Pili. “He will not be available this week. He’ll miss a couple weeks here.”