When writing about this moment the next day, we said this:
Two plays later we got an encore of Dobbs-to-Malone on a 38-yard touchdown against single coverage. When it happened last week, it was a giant sigh of relief. When it happened here, a stiff counter-punch to Virginia Tech’s opening shots, it signaled Tennessee’s arrival at Bristol Motor Speedway and prompted some of the fiercest fist pumps and high fives we’ve seen in the orange section in a long time: Nevermind those first quarter worries, the Vols we hoped for are here. It was one of the more satisfying moments we’ve seen in Butch’s tenure.