Tennessee leads the all time basketball series versus the Governors, 10-1, dating to 1940.
Igor Milicic Jr. led the Vols in scoring with 23 points. He converted 11-of-14 field goal attempts and 1-of-2 free throw attempts. He tied Cade Phillips for Tennessee’s leader in rebounds with nine.
Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee in assists (8).
The Vols totaled 34 bench points, 64 points in the paint, 25 points off turnovers, 17 second chance points and 27 fast break points against Austin Peay.
Isaac Haney led Austin Peay with 22 points, while LJ Thomas scored 20.
Tennessee will next play Virginia on Thursday in the Continental Tire Baha Mar Championship. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m. EST at Nassau, Bahamas (CBS Sports Network).
He played at Tennessee in 2023 after transferring from Alabama. Denton and the Vols advanced to the College World Series last season.
The third baseman announced on Aug. 5, 2023 he would return to Tennessee for the 2024 campaign. He did not play for the Vols this season and entered the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday.
Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello provided an update on Denton in January ahead of the 2024 season.
“I don’t really have any expectations because I don’t have complete answers,” Vitello said. “The one thing I don’t know, if it’s possible to tie a bow on any topic, like shortstop or Zane, but there’s nothing crazy going on and I don’t think you all will be provided an aha moment like this is a straight conclusion. it’s not that easy. There’s a lot of factors to it. I just visited with him recently, we hang out, you know he’s in a a good place, we’re in a good place, just trying to figure out what he’s going to do with his future.
“Really you can’t take away from that moment in time he had against Clemson, but really just his whole time here and his college career to this point. He’s going to add on to that story that you can’t erase, it’s just a matter of how he’s going to add on to it and he came here last year with the plan of getting to Omaha, which he did, and was a major factor. The other part of that plan was getting his opportunity in pro baseball, and for whatever reason, it just didn’t work out. When your plans get derailed a little bit, you sit back and you assess how do you want to move forward, which, again, he’s doing in the classroom and as a person. Certainly, like I said, we we hang out and talk, and so we’ll figure out what’s best, but that’ll come when the time is right, and like I said, it’s not as easy as just going this way or going that way, there’s other factors like classes and things involved.”
“Really good,” Heupel said. “Good energy out on the grass with them today. Really good in the meeting room, too. I anticipated that from these guys. We have strong leadership and guys care about their performance, but they care about how they get there too. I said it after the game too, that I didn’t feel like we didn’t prepare the right way. At the end of the day, we were on the right side of the competitive edge to go play the way that we are capable of.
“That being said, there’s a lot of things that we did really well too during the course of the game. I thought the effort, strain, energy and technique on special teams was really good. Defensively, they played really sound the majority of the football game. Gap assignments allowed a couple of big runs early in the football game, but other than that it was really good. Offensively, we ran it for near eight yards a carry, and we had some efficiency in the passing game too. Penalties, in the red zone in particular, dropped balls and hitting a couple of more passes would lead to a different score, certainly one that we all want, but those are all things that we control. It was a big point of emphasis today with our guys. Control the controllable, which is what sits in that room and how we prepare.”
Clausen played for the Vols from 2000-03, appearing in 47 games. He completed 808-of-1,329 passing attempts for 10,220 yards and 79 touchdowns. The former Vol also scored eight rushing touchdowns.
Clausen won 34 games as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, including 44 starts, and was 14-1 in road contests.
He took over as Tennessee’s starting quarterback during his freshman season in 2000, leading the Vols to a 20-10 win over Alabama at Neyland Stadium.
Clausen is serving as head coach at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, California.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel details quarterback Joe Milton’s performance versus Austin Peay.
Tennessee redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton III completed 21-of-33 passing attempts for 228 yards and two touchdowns versus Austin Peay on Saturday.
Milton III also recorded seven rushing yards and one touchdown on three attempts.
“I thought he was calm, I thought our sidelines in general were calm,” Heupel said. “We got to get into the flow of the football game. That can be Joe driving some of those big routes, it can be us going up and making a difficult catch. It could be great ball security out on the perimeter.
“I haven’t seen the video, but I guess we probably need to get our hands inside on some of the perimeter blocking too.”
“First of all, fans, unbelievable tonight,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the game. “With the delay at the beginning, their energy throughout the course of the game, I appreciate them. Our student body especially and the whole deal, so thank you to them. A win? Absolutely. Do we need to be a whole lot better? Yes, absolutely, in particular offensively. There are some things that we control.
“Give credit to them, too. They played well, they played hard, and they forced us into turnovers or created negative plays. At the end of the day, there are a lot of things that we can look at in the mirror, watch the video, and we have to take another step on the offensive side of the football. Some positive things on special teams and defensively, a lot of positives. We were out there on the field too much, certainly by the end of the ballgame.”
Heupel’s postgame press conference can be watched below.
The Governors and Vols were tied, 6-6, before Tennessee led with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by quarterback Joe Milton III.
Tennessee led, 20-6, in the third quarter after Milton III completed a touchdown pass to Ramel Keyton.
The Vols extended its advantage to, 23-6, after Charles Campbell converted a field goal with 5:51 remaining in the third quarter.
Milton III completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to tight end McCallan Castles with 8:03 remaining in the contest.
Milton III completed 21-of-33 passing attempts for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
Jaylen Wright recorded 118 rushing yards for Tennessee. Keyton totaled eight receptions, 52 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
Kamal Hadden recorded one interception for the Vols.
Tennessee football captains announced for Austin Peay game.
No. 9 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) enters Week 2 play on Saturday.
The Vols are hosting Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 UAC) at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee announced game captains ahead of the in-state matchup. Quarterback Joe Milton III, defensive back Jaylen McCollough, defensive back Brandon Turnage, long snapper Matthew Salansky and wide receiver Bru McCoy are the Vols’ Week 2 captains.
The Tennessee-Austin Peay game was slated to kick off at 5 p.m. EDT. The contest is in a weather delay.
Tennessee released the following statement regarding the weather delay:
With lightning in the area, kickoff has been delayed.
Fans are encouraged to shelter in place:
• fans inside the stadium do not need to leave
• fans outside the gates can shelter at the student union or Food City Center
A look at Tennessee-Austin Peay football pregame social media buzz.
No. 9 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) enters Week 2 play on Saturday.
The Vols will host Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 UAC) at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff between Tennessee and the Governors is slated for 5 p.m. EDT.
The contest can be watched on SEC Network+. Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Dave Steckel (analyst) will be on the call.
Vol Walk will take place at 2:45 p.m. EDT.
Tennessee will wear Artful Dodger Smokey Grey uniforms on Saturday, marking the 51st anniversary of quarterback Condredge Holloway’s first start as a Vol.
Holloway, nicknamed the Artful Dodger, made history as the first Black player to start at quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.
