Game 1
TENNESSEE NC STATE
22 0 10 3 - 7 7 0 7 -
35 21
Aug. 31 | Georgia Dome | Atlanta, Ga. | 7:36 p.m. | Attendance: 55,529
Breakdown UT NCSU FIRST DOWNS 23 22 Rushing 7 8 Passing 14 13 Penalty 2 1 NET YARDS RUSHING 191 119 Rushing Attempts 38 32 Average Per Rush 5.0 3.7 Rushing Touchdowns 2 2 Yards Gained Rushing 213 149 Yards Lost Rushing 22 30 NET YARDS PASSING 333 288 Completions-Attempts-Int 27-41-0 27-48-4 Average Per Attempt 8.1 6.0 Average Per Completion 12.3 10.7 Passing Touchdowns 2 1 TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 524 407 Total offense plays 79 80 Average Gain Per Play 6.6 5.1 Fumbles: Number-Lost 1-1 3-0 Penalties: Number-Yards 6-35 4-40 PUNTS-YARDS 5-193 4-166 Average Yards Per Punt 38.6 41.5 Net Yards Per Punt 39.2 40.2 Inside 20 2 1 50+ Yards 1 0 Touchbacks 0 0 Fair catch 2 3 KICKOFFS-YARDS 7-432 5-312 Average Yards Per Kickoff 61.7 62.4 Net Yards Per Kickoff 37.6 38.4 Touchbacks 3 3 Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 1-5-0 2--3-0 Average Per Return 5.0 -1.5 Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 2-45-0 4-94-0 Average Per Return 22.5 23.5 Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 4-38-0 0-0-0 Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 31:47 28:13 1st Quarter 4:46 10:14 2nd Quarter 9:46 5:14 3rd Quarter 8:05 6:55 4th Quarter 9:10 5:50 Third-Down Conversions 9 of 19 6 of 16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 2 1 of 3 Red-Zone Scores-Chances 3-4 3-3 Touchdowns 1-4 3-3 Field goals 2-4 0-3 Sacks By: Number-Yards 1-18 1-3 PAT Kicks 3-4 3-3 Field Goals 2-2 0-1 36
THE WRAPUP
For the Record • Tennessee Captains: Tyler Bray, Dallas Thomas, Herman Lathers and Prentiss Waggner. • Alex Bullard donned 88 against NC State, instead of his normal 78.
Game Notes • Tennessee’s win snapped a sixgame losing streak in Atlanta and the Georgia Dome dating to 2001. • The victory snapped a threegame losing streak to ACC schools, including a two-game losing streak in neutral site games against the conference (2010 Music City Bowl vs. North Carolina and 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. Virginia Tech). • The win also marked UT’s fourth consecutive win in a season opener since 2009 and the 16th win to open the season in the last 18 years since 1995. • Tennessee’s 22 points were its most in any quarter since scoring 23 vs. UT-Martin in the third quarter on Sept. 4, 2010. • The 22 points were UT’s most in a first quarter since opening its game against Arkansas with 35 on Nov. 11, 2000. • The first quarter was a big one for the Vols in the social media realm as well, as “Tyler Bray,” “Cordarrelle Patterson,” “Tennessee Touchdown” and “Go Vols” were all trending Worldwide on Twitter at various points. • The Vols recorded their first safety since Austin Johnson and Greg King tackled a Skyhawk in the endzone against UT-Martin on Sept. 4, 2010.
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Vols Roll NC State, 35-21, in Season Opener ATLANTA - Tennessee’s 2012 season got off to an impressive start. The same could be said for wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson’s career. And Sal Sunseri’s defense. The Vols rolled up more than 500 yards of total offense and dispatched NC State 35-21 in front of 55,529 in the Georgia Dome in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Patterson, a South Carolina native who spent two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, caught six passes for 93 yards and scored on a 67-yard reverse to help stake the Vols to an early lead. All told, Patterson had 165 of the Vols’ 524 yards of total offense. And Sunseri, making his debut as the Vols’ defensive coordinator, saw his players record a safety and pick off four NC State passes. Tennessee (1-0) had just nine interceptions last season. Justin Hunter picked up Patterson’s momentum in the second half. In his first game since tearing his ACL against Florida last September, Hunter caught nine pass for 73 yards, with eight of those catches coming after halftime. Hunter had four catches on UT’s first drive of the second half, a 14-play, 87-yard grind that ended when Rajion Neal scored from 8 yards out. That score - and a Michael Palardy field goal on their next possession - helped the Vols build a 33-14 lead by the end of the third quarter. While Tennessee’s third-quarter scores were methodical, its first-half offense came in a flash. Patterson began the scoring with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Bray, whose 333 yards against NC State (0-1) marked the seventh time he’s thrown for more than 300 yards. The Wolfpack answered and took a 7-6 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Tony Creecy, ending a 10-play, 86-yard drive that got a big boost from 41- and 28-yard completions by quarterback Mike Glennon. Then the Vols hit fast-foward. Cornerback Prentiss Waggner intercepted a Glennon pass on fourth down, ending an NC State drive inside UT territory. One play later, Tyler Bray found Zach Rogers wide open behind the Wolfpack secondary for a 72-yard touchdown. On NC State’s next play from scrimmage, linebacker Curt Maggitt forced a fumble that rolled out of the end zone for a safety. And one play after that, Patterson took an end around 67 yards for a touchdown, winning a footrace to the end zone and ending a stretch that saw the Vols score 16 points in 38 seconds. Once the pace slowed, NC State turned a fourth-down stop into an eight-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that made the score 22-14 with 3:42 left in the second quarter. The Vols nearly scored a touchdown with 11 seconds to go in the first half, but officials said quarterback Tyler Bray fumbled on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line. An official replay upheld the call and kept the Vols’ lead at eight points heading into halftime. UT allowed 145 passing yards in first quarter, but clamped down in second half and kept major pressure on Glennon, who finished with 287 yards on 27-of-46 passing with four interceptions and one touchdown. UT’s defense had a major hand in the win, as did its running game. Tennessee finished with 191 yards rushing, led by Marlin Lane’s 75 yards on nine carries, including a 42-yard run that set up a field goal in the third quarter.
>> SCORING SUMMARY Team Qtr UT 1st ST 1st UT 1st UT 1st UT 1st ST 2nd UT 3rd UT 3rd ST 4th UT 4th
Time 11:31 05:15 01:07 00:51 00:29 03:42 04:17 01:28 13:46 01:44
Scoring Play Conversion Plays TOP Patterson 41 yd pass from Bray Kick failed 2-54 0:34 Creecy 2 yd run Sade kick 10-86 3:33 Rogers 72 yd pass from Bray Palardy kick 1-72 0:11 TEAM safety Patterson 67 yd run Palardy kick 1-67 0:16 Washington 2 yd run Sade kick 8-67 3:12 Neal 8 yd run Palardy kick 14-87 6:26 Palardy 20 yd field goal 5-43 1:39 Underwood 5 yd pass from Glennon Sade kick 8-55 2:33 Palardy 34 yd field goal 7-22 3:20
Score 6-0 6-7 13-7 15-7 22-7 22-14 29-14 32-14 32-21 35-21
Stat Leaders >> TENNESSEE
Rushing Att Yds TD Long Avg. Lane 9 78 0 42 8.3 Patterson 2 72 1 67 36.0 Neal 22 63 1 8 2.4 Young 2 -2 0 0 -1.0 Bray 2 -5 0 0 -2.5 Totals 38 213 2 67 5.0 Passing C-A-I Yds TD Long Sack Bray 27-41-0 333 2 72 1 Receiving No. Yds TD Long Hunter 9 73 0 19 Patterson 6 93 1 41 Rogers 2 87 1 72 Lane 2 19 0 13 Bartholomew 2 19 0 13 Neal 2 -2 0 4 Carter 1 20 0 20 Rivera 1 13 0 13 Dallas 1 7 0 7 Young 1 4 0 4 Totals 27 333 2 72
>> NC STATE
Rushing Att Yds TD Long Avg. Greene 11 53 0 13 4.8 Creecy 10 48 1 16 4.8 Washington 5 14 1 4 2.4 Glennon 6 34 0 14 1.0 Totals 32 149 2 16 3.7 Passing C-A-I Yds TD Long Sack Glennon 27-46-4 288 1 49 1 Receiving Carter Payton Watson Palmer Washington Underwood Greene Hegedus Creecy Smith Totals
No. Yds TD Long 5 46 0 17 4 129 0 49 4 50 0 28 4 28 0 11 3 10 0 11 3 9 1 5 1 9 0 9 1 7 0 7 1 1 0 1 1 -1 0 0 27 288 1 49