Sep 5, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jalen Hurd (1) scores a touchdown against the Bowling Green Falcons during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
The Tennessee Volunteers beat the Bowling Green Falcons in their season opener Saturday 59-30 in Nashville. Here are the Tennessee football Game 1 grades.
We knew this would be a shootout for a while, and Bowling Green did not disappoint. Dino Babers’s team stayed in this game through the third quarter, and it was only after a lightning delay that the Vols were able to put the Falcons away.
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Against a team with such a weak defense, it is hard to measure just how good the football team was on Saturday at Nissan Stadium, but we were certainly able to see where the Vols could struggle throughout the rest of the year.
Going in, Bowling Green clearly had the offense under the leadership of Matt Johnson to make this a game for a while, and that is exactly what they did.
It just would have been nice had Tennessee put them away earlier than they did, but the second-team finally came in in the fourth quarter after a few big offensive plays by the Vols.
And finally the defense stiffened up when it needed to, but there are some serious issues that are going to need to be addressed going forward.
Fortunately, a win is a win, and we need to keep things in perspective. The Vols did at least cover the spread, as they were 21-point favorites and won by 29.
So let’s not lose sight of the fact that they hung 59 on the Falcons and shut down the high-powered offense late in the game.
It may have taken an extra halftime break to fix things, but Butch Jones, Mike DeBord, John Jancek, and the players regrouped to win the game.
So with a grain of salt on just how good anybody was, here are the grades for the Vols at each position, starting with the offense.
Next: Offensive Grades