2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol

The 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol was an American college football game played at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee on Saturday, September 10, 2016 between the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies. It set a new record for the highest attendance at a college football game, officially 156,990 people.^[3][4]

History

The 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol was the second football game ever played at Bristol Motor Speedway. The first was an NFL exhibition game, held over 55 years earlier, between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins on September 2, 1961.^[5] The capacity for the speedway in 1961 was 18,000 people. Attendance for the game totaled 8,500 people.^[6]

The game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway was originally proposed in 1997; a contract was eventually finalized in 2013 for a 2016 game. From the beginning, a major aspect of the matchup was to break the all-time college football attendance record (previously 115,109; set on September 6, 2013 in Ann Arbor, MI for a game between Michigan and Notre Dame)^[3][7]

The University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech were selected for the game because of the schools' proximity to each other and the speedway. It was the ninth meeting between the teams and their first regular season game since 1937.^[8] The most recent meetings have been in bowl games: the 1994 Gator Bowl (Tennessee won 45–23) and the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech won 37–14).

Before kickoff, officials from the Battle at Bristol were presented with a plaque from Guinness World Records, stating that the attendance was the largest ever at an American college football game.^[7]

Game summary

The game took place at 8 PM ET on September 10, 2016, in week two of the 2016 college football season. It was featured as the Saturday Night Football prime-time game on ABC.

Pre-Game

The coin toss ceremony was done prior to kick-off. Honorary representatives from each school participated: Peyton Manning (TN) and Bruce Smith (VT).^[9]

1st Quarter

Tennessee won the opening coin toss but deferred to start the second half. Virginia Tech began the game from their 11-yard line and had a 13-play, 59-yard drive before stalling at the Volunteers' 30-yard line to give kicker Joey Slye a 47-yard field goal attempt which missed wide right. However, the Hokies' Ken Ekanem sacked Tennessee's quarterback Joshua Dobbs for a loss to end their opening drive. In the ensuing drive, Virginia Tech took eight plays to score first on Jerod Evans' seven-yard pass to Sam Rogers. Again, Tennessee was forced to punt after not getting a first down. Virginia Tech needed only two plays to score their second touchdown on Travon McMillian's 69-yard touchdown run. The teams swapped short drives to end the quarter. Virginia Tech led 14–0.^[10]

During the break between quarters, former Virginia Tech Head Coach, Frank Beamer was honored at mid-field with an ovation from the crowd for his contributions to college football in his 29 years as the Hokies' head coach and for his instrumental role in creating the Battle at Bristol. ^[11]

2nd Quarter

Virginia Tech began the second quarter with possession, but quarterback Jerod Evans fumbled on their 16 yard line, the ball bounced behind him, and Tennessee's Mike Abernathy recovered it at the 5 yard line. Joshua Dobbs then passed to Jauan Jennings to give Tennessee their first points. The Volunteers defense stiffened for the remainder of the quarter, allowing the Hokies to gain only 36 yards offensively. The Tennessee offense responded by finishing the first half with a 24–14 lead.^[10]

3rd Quarter

The third quarter remained scoreless until Joshua Dobbs ran for 31 yards on one play then, two plays later, hit running back Alvin Kamara down the sidelines with a 23-yard pass. Kamara avoided the defensive coverage to score. On the following drive, Virginia Tech managed to reach the Volunteers 9-yard line but had to settle for Joey Slye's field goal. Tennessee was awarded a first down in their next drive, when the Hokies were penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer. However, Virginia Tech soon forced a punt. Each team swapped scoreless drives, and Tennessee finished the quarter with a 31–17 lead.^[10]

4th Quarter

To start the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech's Mook Reynolds intercepted Joshua Dobbs' pass near midfield. However, a penalty at the end of the play and another to start the next drive pushed the Hokies back to their own 19 yard line. Quarterback Jerod Evans took his offense 45 yards in 10 plays, before a fumble recovered by Tennessee's Marcus Abernathy ended the drive at the 21. Abernathy recovered his school-record third fumble, following Virginia Tech's mismanaging their punt return that ended a Tennessee drive. With only just over half a field to work with, Joshua Dobbs went the distance, scoring a few plays later on a 27-yard run. The Hokies fumbled again to start their next drive, giving the Volunteers the ball at the 4 yard line. Running back John Kelly ran it in to cap Tennessee's scoring for the game. Virginia Tech totaled 79 yards in 10 plays on their final drive of the game, scoring on a 2-yard run by Shai McKenzie. Tennessee maintained final possession to close the game with a score of 45–24.^[10]

Scoring summary

Game statistics

References