Georgia St. Panthers vs Tennessee Volunteers Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2012

Tennessee 51, Georgia State 13: Tyler Bray was 18-of-20 passing with four touchdowns - three to Justin Hunter - and Rajion Neal rushed for a pair of scores as the Volunteers won their 18th straight home opener.

Bray, who finished with 310 yards, threw touchdown passes of 25 and 11 yards to Hunter in a 2:42 span of the second quarter as Tennessee (2-0) enjoyed a 28-6 halftime lead.

Hunter finished with 146 yards as Volunteers outgained the Panthers 558-263.

The Volunteers took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in 13 plays, capped by Neal's 1-yard run.

After Christian Benvenuto kicked the first of his two first-half field goals, Bray connected with Mychal Rivera for a 19-yard touchdown to give Tennessee a 14-3 lead with 10:58 left in the half. The two-play, 40-yard drive was set up by a 35-yard punt return by Devrin Young.

Bray's touchdown passes to Hunter capped drives which were a combined seven plays for 152 yards.

Neal's second touchdown - a 5-yard run - came early in the third quarter and Bray's 19-yard scoring pass to Hunter made it 41-6 midway through the period.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Georgia State's Bill Curry became the first coach to face the Volunteers with four different teams. Curry was 3-0 against Tennessee while with Alabama, 2-4-1 with Georgia Tech and 0-7 with Kentucky. Curry, 69, will retire at season's end. ... The Volunteers improved to 92-18-5 all-time in home openers. ... Tennessee begins Southeastern Conference play next Saturday when it hosts No. 23 Florida. ... The Volunteers are 2-0 for the first time in consecutive seasons since 2003-04, when they started 4-0 and 3-0, respectively. ... Georgia State (0-2) will play in the Colonial Athletic Association before joining the Sun Belt in 2013.