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NASHVILLE – For a team that hangs its hat on offense, the Tennessee defense was the story in Saturday’s 49-13 win over Virginia at Nissan Stadium.

The Volunteers’ defense was smothering, especially against the run, as they held the Cavaliers to 95 yards on 40 carries. Virginia didn’t even get into positive rushing yards until the 6:11 mark of the third quarter. UT had four sacks and 10 tackles for loss. The Cavaliers only had 201 yards of total offense with most of that coming in the fourth quarter when the game had long been decided.

The Vols weren’t too shabby on offense either as they rolled up 499 total yards. Joe Milton III fully took control at the quarterback position and managed the game well, finishing with 201 yards and two scores on 21 of 30 passes. It was a coming out party for sophomore running back Dylan Sampson as the Baton Rouge native scored four times (three rush, one reception), the first time in six years that had happened. He finished with 52 yards rushing. Jaylen Wright led the ground game with 115 yards on 12 carries. Tennessee used 10 different receivers with Ramel Peyton having 66 yards and Squirrel White with 45.

As always, Vol fans traveled well as 69,507 fans packed into Nissan Stadium to watch Tennessee and Virginia, the largest crowd to ever see an athletic event in the facility.

“At the end of the day, it’s a really positive win,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “Defensively, I thought the way they started in the first half with three or four possessions on the wrong side of the 50 yard line, they held them to a total of three points. I thought our front four did an unbelievable job of playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage and I thought we tackled well for an opener. The secondary was rock solid early in the game and that carried over for a majority of the game.”

Tennessee, which is finally a deep and talented team in Heupel’s third season in Knoxville, showed their head coach how far they have come over the years. “There is a level of maturity your defense has to have when the ball is on the wrong side of the field and to not have panic or pointing of fingers. There was a common thread that we were going to go out and compete and get off the football field. I love that maturity from our guys and our staff on that side of the ball.”

Heupel liked what he saw out of Milton. “His command was really solid. He did a great job in the pocket and escaped at times. His run reads were pretty solid.”

Milton found Sampson for a nine-yard touchdown when the Vols went for it on a fourth down play in the opening quarter. Tennessee made it a 14-0 contest when Sampson was in from the three and Virginia scored their first points of the game on a 30-yard field goal by Will Bettridge. The Vols executed their two-minute drill to perfection when they drove 75 yards in 1:36 and punched one in right before halftime when Milton scored on the keeper with six seconds left to make it 21-3 at the break. Tennessee outgained Virginia 302-65 in the first half which included minus-8 in rushing yards for the Hoos. “That’s a good way to start if you’re a running back,” Heupel said of Sampson’s breakout game.

After Tennessee forced a three-and-out by UVA to begin the third quarter, they scored on their first possession in the second half when Milton walked in from the one. Sampson later added a two-yard TD to balloon the lead to 35-3. The only touchdown the Charlottesville team produced was when Perris Jones ran in from the 17 yard line, the second longest rush of the day (22) for Virginia.

Milton connected with Jacob Warren for an 11-yard score to make it a 42-10 game and Sampson had his fourth TD of the day with a 3-yarder. Bettridge booted through a 40-yard field goal with 39 ticks showing and that produced the 49-13 final.

“The work you have been putting in since January, you just come in and dominate with your brothers, it’s fun and it felt like we just playing free out there,” Sampson said of his big debut. “It was fun.” The Vols rushed for 287 yards and Sampson gave credit where credit was due, especially with offensive lineman Cooper Mayes sidelined with an injury. “I think our guys understood that someone had to take control of the room. The whole O-line did a great job of being physical and creating holes and getting us to the second level. That’s all you can ask for and I love playing behind my boys.”

Tennessee will take on intra-state rival Austin Peay next Saturday at 5 p.m.