Joe Milton III passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another and No. 17 Tennessee produced three defensive scores while pummeling UConn 59-3 on Saturday afternoon in nonconference action at Knoxville, Tenn.
Jaylen Wright rushed for 113 yards, including a long scoring run for the Volunteers (7-2), who won for the fifth time in six games. Squirrel White and Ramel Keyton caught lengthy touchdown passes and McCallan Castles also had a scoring grab for Tennessee.
Tyler Baron returned a fumble for a touchdown and Jaylen McCollough and Aaron Beasley each had interception returns for scores for the Volunteers. Milton completed 11 of 14 passes for 254 yards in one half of play.
Ta’Quan Roberson was 24-of-40 passing for 218 yards and two interceptions for the Huskies (1-8), who lost their third straight game.
Tennessee outgained the Huskies 650 to 256.
The Volunteers led by 32 at halftime and piled on with two defensive scores in the first 3:09 of the third quarter.
McCullough intercepted Roberson at the 30-yard line on the first play of the quarter and he returned it for the score.
Just three minutes later, Beasley recorded the pick-six with the grab and 39-yard return to make it 49-3.
Backup quarterback Nico Iamaleava threw his first career touchdown pass, hitting Castles from 19 yards out, to boost the lead to 53 with 7:30 left in the third quarter. The Volunteers cruised the rest of the way.
Tennessee outgained UConn 402 to 200 in the first half while scoring on three offense plays of 60 or more yards.
Wright broke loose up the middle on the second play of the game and raced 82 yards for a touchdown.
After UConn’s Noe Ruelas kicked a 22-yard field goal, Keyton was wide open down the field and caught Milton’s pass at the Huskies’ 20 and strolled in for a 60-yard score to make it 14-3 with 1:38 left in the quarter.
Milton scored on a 6-yard run midway through the second quarter and then hooked up with White on an 83-yard scoring play to make it 28-3 with 4:34 remaining in the half. Just 64 seconds later, Baron scored on a 24-yard fumble to account for the 35-3 lead at the break.
–Field Level Media