Tennessee football’s dominant 71-0 win over Kent State set program and conference records for most points scored in a single quarter and a half. The win also moved them up in ESPN’s Week Four Football Power Index rankings.
The Vols offense was on fire and opened the floodgates with five first-quarter touchdowns. Nico Iamaleava led the Vols through the air and threaded the needle on some throws to put it on the Golden Flashes. The running back room was also dominant as the Vols rushed for 456 yards and five touchdowns.
Tennessee’s defense also continued its elite showing. They haven’t allowed an offensive touchdown all season, which continued in their shutout.
The Vols were ranked No. 5 in the computer-generated rankings after last week and moved up to No. 4 due to their 71-point win. They jumped Georgia, who fell to No. 5 after surviving Kentucky 13-12.
This could just be an overreaction to another Georgia game in Lexington that was a lot closer than it should have been. Regardless, Georgia looked less than impressive in its first SEC game of the season, which now makes back-to-back trips to Lexington and almost ended in a loss for the Bulldogs.
With Georgia’s big drop, the SEC still holds four of the five top spots in the FPI rankings. Ohio State is the lone non-SEC team in the top five, while Texas and Alabama hold the top two spots and currently stand as the presumable favorites to win the SEC after the first three weeks of the season.
Tennessee will look to continue its dominance on both sides of the ball and continue climbing up the polls with its second-ranked matchup of the season. The Vols will face No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday at 7:00 PM ET to open conference play.