Tennessee Buries Furman 56-9 with 642 Yards
Mike Matthews caught two touchdowns, 55 and 57 yards, in a span of 2:16 on the clock in the third quarter. That was the moment this one stopped being a game. Tennessee won the opener 56-9.
Faizon Brandon threw to Ethan Davis from 17 yards for the first score, then ran for a 6-yarder and a 7-yarder in the second quarter. DeSean Bishop added a 1-yard run, and it was 28-0 at halftime. The third quarter opened with Brandon hitting Matthews twice, and Tennessee led 42-0 with 11:38 left in the period. Furman got on the board with a 50-yard field goal from Nathan Chapman, and George MacIntyre then threw a 22-yard touchdown to TK Keys for 49-3 entering the fourth quarter.
Furman scored again on a 23-yard run from I. Davis, and the two-point try failed. Justin Baker answered with a 73-yard touchdown run on his three carries to set the final.
The team numbers say the same thing. Tennessee had 642 total yards, 309 passing and 333 rushing, with six sacks and no interceptions thrown. Its one blemish was a fumble by Bishop. Tennessee is 1-0 and Furman is 0-1.
Furman, to its credit, did not get shut out: it had that third-quarter field goal and the fourth-quarter touchdown. Nine points is nine points.
Fantasy-wise, Brandon had 45.8 points on 13 of 17 passing for 226 yards, three touchdowns, and two more on the ground. He is in the top spot by a mile. Matthews added 29.2 on four catches.