Austin Peay @ Tennessee Volunteers: Vols Roll 45-0 In Butch Jones’ Debut

Aug 31, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Pig Howard (2) celebrates a touchdown catch against the Austin Peay Governors with running back Marlin Lane (15) at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

After nearly nine months of waiting, the Butch Jones era got underway in Knoxville on Saturday evening in front of an announced attendance of 97,169.

The Vols punished the Austin Peay Governors with a tough ground game, gaining 315 rushing yards on their way to a 45-0 victory.

Senior runing back Rajion Neal led the Vols’ running game with 141 rushing yards on 16 attempts, including a 47 yard touchdown run on the Vols’ fourth play. That 47 yard touchdown run was the longest rush of Neal’s career. It was also his only score of the day.

Junior running back Marlin Lane contributed two rushing touchdowns, including the second score of the game, a 14 yarder that put the Vols up 14-0. Lane finished the day with 38 yards on six rushing attempts.

Justin Worley, who won the starting quarterback job over redshirt freshman Nathan Peterman, had an efficient night. The junior completed 11 of his 13 passes for 104 yards and three touchdowns.

Worley’s first touchdown throw, a nine yard pass to Devrin Young, came after defensive tackle Daniel Hood tipped an Austin Peay pass and came down with the interception.

Worley’s only two incomplete were to freshman wide receiver Marquez North. The first was a deep throw that was slightly underthrown, the second was a pass into tight coverage in the endzone, which went off North’s hands.

The Vols gave fans a glimpse, perhaps, into how many receivers Butch Jones will use in a rotation this season.

Tennessee used an extremely balanced passing attack, with seven wide receivers catching passes on Saturday evening.

Marquez North was the team’s leading receiver, catching three passes for 33 yards.

Pig Howard also caught three passes, accounting for 29 yards and a touchdown.Johnathon Johnson, Paul Harris, Jacob Carter, Devrin Young and Josh Smith also recorded receptions for the Vols.

All of Tennessee’s touchdowns occurred in the first half, with the first-team offense.Michael Palardy added a 37 yard field goal early in the second half, which concluded the scoring for the day.

Back-up quarterback Nathan Peterman got into the game in the second half, completing 4 passes for 28 yards.

After the game Vols head coach Butch Jones acknowledged that although he’s proud of his team, he knows they have a long way to go,

"Jones: I’m proud of our players. They did an exceptional job, we have a long way to go though."

Jones was especially happy with the team finishing the game with no penalties saying “We played disciplined football”.

Butch Jones won’t savor this win for long, saying “I’m already thinking about Western Kentucky”.