Tennessee football: Highlights from Vols’ 59-10 win vs. Ball State

It was nothing but a highlight reel for Tennessee football as they opened the season Thursday night with a 59-10 win over the Ball State Cardinals. The Vols put on a show all four quarters on both sides of the ball, and it honestly gave fans a lot to be excited about as they get set for the season. Will this continue? Nobody knows.

However, it’s safe to say that this was a much prettier performance than the Vols’ win over a MAC program to open the season last year on a Thursday night. It should have been as well. The highlights started right off the bat with an interception and a touchdown on the first two plays from scrimmage. They only continued after that.

We did our best to compile as many of those highlights as possible. Any game Josh Heupel coaches is going to have lots of highlights because of his tempo and the number of plays he forces teams to run, and this was no different. Here are video highlights from Tennessee football’s season-opening victory at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Thursday.

Tamarion McDonald interception on the first play of the game followed by a Hendon Hooker 23-yard touchdown pass to Jalin Hyatt

Hendon Hooker one-yard touchdown run

Hendon Hooker 20-yard pass to Bru McCoy followed by one-yard touchdown run

Ramel Keyton catch over the middle from Hendon Hooker for 32-yard gain

Jabari Small seven-yard touchdown run

Kamal Hadden interception

Hendon Hooker 16-yard touchdown pass to Walker Merrill

Dylan Sampson two-yard touchdown run

Joe Milton III 53-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Holiday

There were a few key highlights that we couldn’t pull. Jaylen Wright had a touchdown run, and the Vols had a pretty impressive 4th and 1 stop in the first quarter on a quarterback sneak, their second straight drive with a fourth down stop in the game. Both of those deserve a mention, though, since they didn’t make it on here.

Still, these highlights were enough to make for a great show, and that’s exactly what Heupel and UT gave their fans. The new renovations to Neyland Stadium only made it more fun, as fans could enjoy them from more luxury seating, with the V-O-L-S letters back and with an extra scoreboard.

Next week, Tennessee football likely won’t produce as many highlights when they face he Pittsburgh Panthers on the road. However, this was a great start to the year for them, and they provided a month’s worth of entertainment in this one, although no fan hopes this is all that carries them through the month.