Backed by fans, Tennessee shows confidence in road win at LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. – Jalin Hyatt could hardly tell it was a road game.
By the time Tennessee was up two scores in the first quarter, LSU's Tiger Stadium – long known as a hostile environment for opposing teams – felt more like Neyland Stadium for Vols' players.
That was especially true by the end of the game – a 40-13 decision dominated by No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday.
"To be honest, it didn't feel like we were on the road," Hyatt said. "... As far as Vol Nation coming out and supporting, especially here in Baton Rouge. It's a blessing to be a part of this group and be a part of this fan base. They came out to see us play and support us."
Of the announced sellout crowd of 102,321, most that remained in the fourth quarter were orange-clad Tennessee fans. Their beloved team made the nearly 700-mile journey from East Tennessee to Baton Rouge worth it.
The No. 8 Vols (5-0, 2-0 SEC) climbed to their best start in six seasons in emphatic fashion. Once quarterback Hendon Hooker connected with Hyatt in the end zone to cap a 76-yard drive to open the third quarter and extend the Tennessee lead to 30-7, Tiger fans could read the writing the wall.
Tennessee fans, however, stuck it out until the very end – and then some.
Head coach Josh Heupel even took the time to come back out of the visitor's tunnel in the corner of the south end zone to soak in the atmosphere a little longer.
"Our fanbase, can't say enough about it. ... Phenomenal," Heupel said. "Driving in, seeing all of the orange on the bus, seeing it everywhere inside of this stadium. Just appreciate our fanbase. Our players do, too. They feel that energy and excitement."
The loyalty of the Tennessee fanbase has always been hard to question, even during a trio of failed coaching experiments and historically bad seasons. But a winning product on the field has allowed their loyalty to be even more evident.
Those same fans provided an energetic atmosphere two weeks ago in the Vols' 38-33 win over Florida at Neyland Stadium. They then carried it over "Death Valley," and the players fed off of it again.
"It's a blessing. Shout out to Vol Nation for making that trip down here and showing up in a huge way," Hooker said. "I feel like their presence was definitely the difference in the game."
Unbeaten and in position to make another jump in the top-10 once polls are released on Sunday, Tennessee's rivalry rendezvous with No. 1 Alabama in Knoxville next Saturday looms even larger.
Just as it was for decades and has already been this season, Neyland Stadium will be one of college football's biggest stages for a day.
"Today's a great environment on the road," Heupel said. "You love the energy from our fanbase here. ... You could feel it as soon as you drove anywhere near campus. There's nothing like playing Neyland.
"I can't wait for next week's atmosphere. I expect it to be absolutely electric."
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