Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 60-14 win vs. South Alabama Jaguars

2. Special teams plays accounted for multiple scores.

For weeks, Tennessee football had been knocking on the door when it came to special teams. Velus Jones Jr. had come extremely close to running a kickoff or a punt back for a touchdown, but a penalty called one back, and he couldn’t complete the job on the others. Meanwhile, the Vols had blocked two punts that set up 10 points in total.

However, there were no scores on special teams outside of field goals and extra points. That finally changed in this game. The signs were there early. Jones returned a punt 33 yards in the first half to set up the Vols’ fourth touchdown and put them up 28-0.

Then came the big plays. South Alabama had a touchdown drive to cut it to 28-7, and Jones then returned the kickoff for a touchdown to put UT up 35-7. Yes, he had a punt return to set up a touchdown and then a kickoff return for a touchdown.

That wasn’t all that happened, though. Late in the second half, a bad snap by South Alabama on a punt resulted in a second safety in this game. As a result, the Vols had a 33-yard punt return to set up a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown and a safety on a punt. Those things helped keep this game out of reach.