Tennessee Football: Vols Better With Tyler Bray-Crush Ole Miss, 52-14

On an absolutely beautiful fall day for football in the Southeast, the Ole Miss Rebels (4-6, 1-5 SEC) and head coach Houston Nutt paid a visit to Knoxville to take on Derek Dooley and the Tennessee Volunteers (4-6, 1-5 SEC).

A crowd of 96,044 filed into Neyland Stadium, many at Gate 17 to see the new statue of the Vols legendary coach and stadium's namesake, General Robert Neyland.  I must say it is quiet an impressive piece of work and a "must see" the next time you head into Knoxville for a game.

Football prognosticators were predicting a shootout between the two teams who have had defensive struggles in 2010.  The offenses were supposed to put on a show, but only one team lived up to the hype.

Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray got his first career start last week and put up huge numbers in the blowout win over Memphis.  Ole Miss was supposed to be more of a test. I think he "passed."

Not only was Bray looking for his first win in the SEC, he was also looking to give Coach Dooley his first conference win as well. 

It didn't take long before both probably realized it was going to be Tennessee's day.

On Tennessee's first offensive play from scrimmage, Bray picked right up where he left off last week, finding fellow freshman Justin Hunter for an 80-yard touchdown.  The pass was nearly picked off by an Ole Miss defender, but slipped through his hands and right into Hunter's. 

The Vol's next offensive series took all of three plays to find the checkerboards.  It was Bray's hot hand again, this time finding Denarius Moore from 17 yards out, capping the 68 yard drive.

Ole Miss quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli, started and played most of the game for the Rebels despite sustaining a concussion in last weeks game.  The Oregon transfer never really found any kind of rhythm and just didn't look like the quarterback that Ole Miss fans had been accustomed to seeing throughout the year. 

Masoli would finish the day 7-of-18 passing for just 80 yards and 3 interceptions, two of which were returned for Tennessee scores. 

With 2:33 remaining in the first quarter and Ole Miss trailing 14-0, Masoli was picked off by the Vols' Eric Gordon and returned 46 yards for a Tennessee touchdown.

At the end of the first quarter, Tennessee had ran only four offensive plays and with a little help from the defense, had already put three touchdowns on the board.  Almost shockingly, the Vols led 21-0.

Ole Miss would battle back in the second quarter on the strength of their star running back, Brandon Bolden.  Bolden scored from 17 yards out for the Rebel's first score of the day and added a second touchdown run from two yards out to pull Ole Miss within striking range of the Vols.

But Bray and the Tennessee offense were just getting started..

With 6:35 to go in the second quarter, Bray found Hunter for the second time in the game for a touchdown.  The scoring strike covered 22 yards and was Bray's third of the day.

The Vols would add a field goal of 43 yards by Daniel Lincoln just before the intermission to go up 31-14 at the half.

The young Vols with a lack of depth have had a tendency to struggle in the second half of games earlier in the season.  Today, there would be no letdown.

The second half scoring began for the Vols when defensive back Prentiss Waggner intercepted Masoli and returned it 10 yards for a Big Orange touchdown.  It was Waggner's third pick-six of the season and a Tennessee record.

Tauren Poole, who was mostly quiet in the first half, made plenty of noise in the second.  Poole added touchdown runs of 35 and 36 yards to close out the scoring for the Vols.  Poole finished the day with 107 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.  It was Poole's sixth 100+ yard rushing performance of the year, tops in the SEC.

The Tennessee defense pitched a shutout, including four interceptions, at the Rebels in the second half and came away with a dominating 52-14 victory. 

Final Score:  Tennessee 52 Ole Miss 14

The Vols accomplishments were many in the win over Ole Miss.

Tyler Bray started his first SEC game and came away victorious, giving the Vols their first conference win of the season.  Bray is drawing high-praise from fans, sports talk radio hosts, and fellow teammates.  It would appear that Tennessee has found their man in the freshman signal-caller. 

Bray finished the day 18-of-34 for 323 yards and three touchdowns.  In two starts he has thrown eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions.  He has also become the first Vol quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in each of his first two starts.

Head coach Derek Dooley finally secured his first SEC win with two remaining on the 2010 schedule.

"It was just a phenomenal team win,"  Dooley said afterward. "I felt like we were ready."

The Tennessee defense had a season-high four interceptions, helping the Vols to their highest scoring game of the year.

Vol Notes

The Volunteer's offense out-gained Ole Miss 441-295.  The 52 point outburst was the most scored by the Vols in a non-overtime SEC game since 2003.

The win improves the Vols to 4-6 overall with two games remaining.  If Tennessee can win out with wins over Vandy next week in Nashville and Kentucky in two weeks in Knoxville, they would finish the regular season at 6-6 and become bowl eligible. 

The injury bug continues to bite the Vols as Eric Gordon left the game with a suspected concussion and Jantzen Jackson hobbled off with an ankle injury.

The win also solidified a verbal recommittment from four-star JUCO prospect, Maurice Couch.  The 6'0" 295 lb defensive tackle had previously committed to the Vols but had put his committment on hold.  After Saturday's impressive victory, Couch had seen enough and said he is 1000 percent sure he's coming to Tennessee.

The Vanderbilt kick off has been set for 7:30 EST and will air on CSS and The Vol Network.

Rebel Notes

Ole Miss drops to 4-6 overall and also must win out to become bowl eligible.  The Rebels will have a tough time as they must travel to Baton Rouge this week to take on Les Miles and the LSU Tigers before returning home to face in-state rival Mississippi State in the season finale.

Head coach Houston Nutt said of Bray after the game, "He did a good job executing and throwing the ball, we knew he could do that.  But I never in a million days thought it would be 52-14."