Third-down success spurs Vols past Red Wolves

photo Jalen Hurd of Tennessee is tackled by Arkansas State's Qushaun Lee as Darrius Rosser, left, approaches.

Read moreWiedmer: Vols impressing more than fansNorth finds end zone twice for Tennessee VolsYoung Vols maturing at rapid pace

KNOXVILLE - The audience wasn't quite as large and the team wasn't quite as thorough, but the maturing Tennessee Volunteers were more than enough for Arkansas State to handle Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.

Justin Worley threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Tennessee improved to 2-0 for a fourth consecutive season with a 34-19 win over the Red Wolves of the Sun Belt Conference. The Volunteers were a little more dominant last Sunday night in a 38-7 dismantling of Utah State, which took place before a sellout crowd of 102,455.

Saturday's announced crowd of 99,538 was just shy of a sellout.

"We're going to be able to learn a lot from this game," Worley said. "Everything went relatively smooth last week. We came out great. This week we had our ups and downs, but we were able to persevere and push through it."

Worley had a sizzling first half, completing 17 of 24 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown in staking the Vols to a 24-12 lead. He finished 22-of-38 for 247 yards with two touchdowns and his first interception of the season, and freshman tailback Jalen Hurd led the ground game with 83 yards on 23 carries.

Senior linebacker A.J. Johnson tallied nine tackles including a tackle for loss to head the defense, but what the Vols may have lacked in eye-popping individual statistics, they made up for in critical team categories.

Tennessee's offense was 9-of-18 on third-down conversions, including 9-of-14 through three quarters, while the defense held the Red Wolves to a measly 4-of-17 clip.

"I thought the whole key, when you summarize it, was third-down conversions," coach Butch Jones said after evening his ledger with the Vols to 7-7. "We did a great job defensively of getting off the field on third downs, and then we were able to possess the ball offensively on third down."

Said Vols outside linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin: "That's the money down."

Tennessee also is developing a knack for red-zone success, scoring all six times in last week's win and going 6-for-7 Saturday. The lone exception was Aaron Medley's missed 35-yard field-goal try in the fourth quarter, a kick that Jones called "inexcusable."

Arkansas State struck on its opening possession to take a 6-0 lead, but Tennessee countered by scoring 17 consecutive points. A 10-yard touchdown from Worley to Marquez North early in the second quarter put the Vols up 17-6, and a Worley 5-yard keeper with 1:20 before halftime countered an ASU score and gave Tennessee a 24-12 halftime lead.

Worley's rushing score was set up by a 12-yard end-around by receiver Josh Smith, who hurdled a Red Wolves defender to the delight of the crowd.

"It was just something I liked to do in high school," Smith said, "so I just tried to translate it to college. It was there, so I took it."

Johnson called Smith's acrobatic play one of those "ooh" moments.

Arkansas State forced a three-and-out early in the third quarter and was in store for excellent field position until J.D. McKissic fumbled a punt return at Tennessee's 36. Cameron Sutton recovered for the Vols, who drove 64 yards in 10 plays and took their largest lead at 31-12 on a 14-yard pass from Worley to North.

"That was big. That was monumental," Jones said. "They had some momentum. They were coming after the kick, and we did a good job on operation time. Our team did a great job of running down there and recovering the football."

Smith said the Vols have more weapons than they did last year, which was reflected by six Vols having receptions of longer than 10 yards and four rushers with gains of 10 or more yards. Sutton believes Tennessee's defense is faster than it was last season, and the players agreed that a better performance would be needed next week at Oklahoma.

That will be the biggest challenge yet for the Vols, who were pressed somewhat this past week considering they had less time to prepare after opening on a Sunday.

"The staff was fine, because we're used to playing Thursday games," Jones said, "but our players had never been through it. Half of our football team is brand new, and you have to find a way to get yourself ready to go mentally and physically. You work year round for 12 opportunities, but it was a challenge.

"It was a passionate game last Sunday night, but I thought our players overall had a pretty good week of preparation."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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