No. 15 Tennessee is 3-0 for the first time since 2016 after a dismantling Akron 63-6 Saturday night. The Vols did their job and made it out of Week 3 without any serious injuries and now they can take on Florida with confidence and momentum on their side.
Tennessee’s offense was on full display once again Saturday, but its defense showed out too. Here are three takeaways from the Vols third win of the season.
Several Vols have career games
A handful of Vols had career games Saturday.
Jalin Hyatt was Hendon Hooker’s main target on the night, and the junior receiver made the most of it. He had 166 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 5-6 receiving. With Saturday’s performance he has already surpassed his receiving yards total from last season and is on pace to pass his career high receiving yards for a season.
“He’s a guy who wanted to be great a year ago,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “He worked to be great this entire offseason.”
Jaylen Wright has been getting just as many touches in the backfield as starter Jabari Small has, but Saturday was his breakout game.
The sophomore picked up 96 yards and a pair of touchdowns after Small went down early with a minor injury. Wright has shown all season that he is a solid backup to Small, but he showed on Saturday that he can be the main option if need be.
True freshman Dylan Sampson had 57 yards on the game and found himself scoring on fourth down twice, both coming on an option right from Hooker that threw off the defense.
Sampson is a great option in the backfield – a position Tennessee thought would lack depth heading into the season.
“We saw the same things we see from him every single day,” Heupel said. “He’s consistent, he understands what we’re doing.”
Vols offense dominates
In the Heupel era, Tennessee’s offense has always been the star, but the Vols’ offense shined especially bright on Saturday.
Led by 298 yards – almost all in the first half – from Hooker, Tennessee recorded 676 total yards, the fifth most yards of total offense in program history.
“We feel like we’ve hit the ground running,” Hooker said. “We’re just trying to continue that through the season.”
The Vols have eclipsed 600 total yards just 17 times in program history, and three of those times have come in the Heupel era.
New-and-improved Milton
Saturday was Joe Milton’s second opportunity of the season to shine, and he once again made the most of it. Milton came in the game during the Vols’ second drive of the second half and immediately got to work.
He found a wide-open Ramel Keyton down field and threw a perfect pass right in front of him for a 57-yard touchdown, a pass that might have been an overthrow last season. Then, he found Walker Merrill for a 38-yard touchdown pass on the next drive.
Milton has shown a lot of growth so far in his two appearances this season and has proved he is able to step in for Hooker when he needs to, giving Tennessee depth advantage at quarterback.
“Just really solid in his decision making,” Heupel said. “He’s in complete command of what we’re doing, better in the pocket. He was really solid tonight.”
