Tennessee football overwhelmed Chattanooga early in week one win

Tennessee football opened its 2024 campaign with a win over Chattanooga, an in-state FCS power. Tennessee overwhelmed the Mocs early to jump out to a big lead and a 69-3 win. 

The Vols offense opened the game with a long drive led by seven carries by Dylan Sampson, including a one-yard rush to get into the endzone to start the game with a 7-0 lead. The defense showed up on their first drive, too. Tennessee's defense forced a fumble and gave the offense a short field to expand their lead. 

Sampson and Cam Seldon got a lot of carries throughout the game, leading the Vols rushing attack and guiding the Vols offense down the field. Sampson finished the day with 12 carries for 124 yards, while Seldon had 7 carries for 47 yards. 

Josh Heupel opened the playbook for redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava early in the game. Heupel called a reverse to Bru McCoy on the game's first drive and wasn't shy about letting Nico sling it throughout the first half. 

Tennessee showed pure domination with Nico at QB and went into halftime with a 45-0 lead over the Mocs. He set the program record for most passing yards in a half with 314 passing yards and three touchdowns in the first half for the Vols. 

Gaston Moore took over quarterback duties for the Vols throughout the third and part of the fourth quarter. The Vols added 24 points to their total in the second half, while Chattanooga also got on the board with a third-quarter field goal and a fourth-quarter touchdown.

True Freshman Jake Merklinger made his first appearance for the Vols in the fourth quarter and showed off his arm a few times during a long drive against the Chattanooga defense to add more points to the Vols' total. 

Tennessee dominated every phase of the game for all 60 minutes against a solid FCS team, who will likely be FCS playoff contenders later this season. 

The Vols offense took shots throughout the first half and looked more like the 2022 offense than the 2023 offense. If the Vols can get back to the efficiency and effectiveness of 2022, we could be in for a special season on Rocky Top.