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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee found the end zone on
Saturday.
|  | | Tennessee tailback Travis Stephens had two touchdown runs Saturday in the Vols' 70-3 win. |
A week after settling for five field goals in a last-second loss
to Florida, the 13th-ranked Volunteers piled on 10 touchdowns in a
70-3 rout of Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
"We had our minds made up that we were going to come out and
score touchdowns," said Travis Henry, who ran for two TDs. "We
just have to keep coming out and dominating. That's what we did. We
finally started scoring in the red zone."
Freshman backup Casey Clausen threw three touchdown passes in
his first game and Travis Stephens added two scoring runs as the
Vols reached the 70-point mark for the first time since a 73-0 win
over Carson-Newman in 1929.
"We are a lot better than we were three weeks ago," Vols coach
Phillip Fulmer said. "I believe we are continuing to improve,
trying to get healthy and focused. We have a heck of a run coming
up."
Tennessee gets into the heart of its Southeastern Conference
schedule with games coming up against LSU, Georgia, Alabama and
South Carolina.
Clausen replaced starter A.J. Suggs after Tennessee built a 21-0
lead 10:31 into the game. Suggs won the starting job from sophomore
Joey Mathews, who later sustained a knee injury that has kept him
out of the last two games.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Clausen threw a touchdown pass on his
first play -- a 19-yard hookup with Davis Martin -- as the Vols built
up a 49-0 halftime lead.
"It was exciting. It was fun to be out there," Clausen said.
Clausen completed 12-of-15 passes for 133 yards after replacing
Suggs in Tennessee's fourth possession. The two shared playing time
in the third quarter. Clausen started the fourth quarter and senior
walk-on Josh Plemons came on with 6:35 left.
The Tennessee players don't seem to mind who takes the snap as
long as scoring is the result.
"The quarterbacks are young but we have faith in them," Eric
Parker, who caught a 68-yard TD pass from Suggs, said. "They
showed a lot of poise in the pocket. That's what we need them to
do."
The Indians stopped Tennessee's first drive when Henry Whitehead
intercepted Suggs' pass at the 5 and returned it 20 yards. That was
about it for Louisiana-Monroe, which came to town a week after the
Vols scored just one TD and lost to Florida 27-23.
"It doesn't take a genius to see where we are. Everytime you
looked up, there was a new orange shirt playing against a dirty
white one," Louisiana-Monroe coach Bobby Keasler said.
The Vols scored on their next four possessions, then used two
blocked punts and a fumble return to build up their huge halftime
lead.
Following a blocked punt by Steven Marsh at the Indians 16,
Clausen hit Martin in the corner of the end zone with a 19-yard
pass to give Tennessee a 28-0 lead.
Clausen had an inflamed rotator cuff in his throwing arm and did
not throw for two weeks in August. He was not cleared to play in
Tennessee's season opener against Southern Mississippi but was
ready last week for Florida. Suggs played the entire game against
the Gators.
Suggs, who finished 8-of-16 for 141 yards, connected with Parker
on a 68-yard TD pass that put the Vols up 21-0 with 4:29 left in
the first quarter.
Tennessee punted on its first two possessions of the third
quarter. On the second, David Leaverton shanked the punt, giving
Louisiana-Monroe the ball at the Tennessee 19. The Indians came
away with a 33-yard field goal by Daniel Francis.
Clausen led Tennessee on a 57-yard scoring drive on the ensuing
possession capped by Cedric Wilson' 9-yard catch as the third
quarter ended.
Clausen did it again on Tennessee's next possession, hitting
Wilson with a 22-yard TD pass to make it 63-3 with 11:13 to go.
Leonard Scott's 45-yard TD run with 4:28 remaining that
completed the scoring tied a record for Tennessee's most touchdowns
in one game set in 1951 in the Vols' 68-0 win over Tennessee Tech.
Alex Walls set a school record with 10 extra points.
Tennessee scored its first touchdown on Henry's 1-yard run and
then scored 21 seconds later on a fumble return.
Henry scored his second 1-yard touchdown with 11:12 to go in the
second quarter after Jabari Greer blocked Steve Hunnicutt's punt
and recovered the ball at the Louisiana-Monroe 8.
The two blocked punts was the most for Tennessee in one game
since two against Kentucky in 1986. Hunnicutt, a freshman, also had
a blocked punt at Memphis two weeks ago that led to a TD.
Stephens scored Tennessee's final two TDs of the first half on
runs of 15 and 1 yards.
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ALSO SEE
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Scoreboard
Louisiana Monroe Clubhouse
Tennessee Clubhouse
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