The Good, Bad, and Ugly From Tennessee Football's Win Over Kennesaw State

The Tennessee Volunteers were victorious in their third game of the season, as they returned to Knoxville, Tennessee, to defeat the Kennesaw State Owls in their final regular-season non-conference game.

As always, Tennessee had some good come from this game, but they also had some bad and ugly. Here is one thing that would fall into each of those categories.

Good - Tennessee Football's Rushing Attack Didn't Skip a Beat

Daune Morru — Tennessee running back Daune Morris (17) returns a kickoff against Kennesaw State during a college football game on Sept. 19, 2026, in Knoxville, Tennessee. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

I felt like the clear, obvious "good" is that the Tennessee rushing attack didn't skip a single beat against the Kennesaw State Owls. In this game, the Vols were limited in their running back options, as both Justin Baker and Javin Gordon were out before this game even started, while star back DeSean Bishop was limited. This meant that Tennessee had to rely on Daune Morris and Hunter Barnes in the backfield, and neither one disappointed.

This was a great showing for Morris and Barnes, along with the contribution of Faizon Brandon. The four contributors to the rushing attack, including Bishop despite being limited, finished the game with a total of 268 yards and four touchdowns. Each contributor finished with one on the night.

Bad - Tennessee's Interior Blocking

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel before the game between Tennessee and Kennesaw State at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 19, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Many fans have already started watching the tape and were quick to determine that the interior blocking for the Vols wasn't the greatest at times. The Vols were getting beat on the inside, and there were too many times that the Vols had to pivot away from an original hole, or even scramble due to this fact.

I felt like this is something that came in spurts, which is what makes this worse compared to what I have listed as ugly at this time. Overall, this is something that has to improve. In fact, if this doesn't improve prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns, it could be a very long night.

Ugly - Faizon Brandon's Fumbles

The Tennessee Volunteers have been sound with the football for the most part, but on Saturday night, the Vols did let the football fall loose a couple of times. Both were while Faizon Brandon was in possession of the football. While this can be viewed as an overreaction, it is important to note that there will be no room for Tennessee to be able to make a mistake against the Texas Longhorns this upcoming Saturday.

This means that the Vols will need to make sure that they get this problem fixed, which is definitely something that they can do.

Overall, the game itself wasn't pretty, but the Vols did enough to pickup a victory.

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