Rogers. Taylor, Briscoe power Vols win over Southern Miss

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Vols Handle Southern Miss 39-19

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Top 25 Overview

It was over when... Tennessee gained momentum going into halftime, thanks to an Erik Ainge 5-yard pass to Josh Briscoe to give the Vols a one-point lead. Gameball goes to... Arian Foster. Tennessee's junior running back rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, opening up the passing game for Ainge. Stat of the game... 94. After Tennessee's performance at Cal, the Vols were ranked no higher than 94th in any defensive stat. That should improve with Week 2's performance. Complete Top 25 Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	17	22
Total Yards	354	469
Passing	264	276
Rushing	90	193
Penalties	5-35	6-55
3rd Down Conversions	3-16	8-16
4th Down Conversions	1-3	1-2
Turnovers	3	2
Possession	27:17	32:43

Air/Ground Leaders
Southern Miss Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Young 19/36 254 1 1 Reaves 2/4 10 0 0	Tennessee Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Ainge 23/36 276 2 0
Southern Miss Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Young 9 48 0 31 Fletcher 11 37 0 8	Tennessee Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Foster 23 125 2 21 Creer 6 53 0 38
Southern Miss Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Johnson 8 127 1 69 Nelson 4 52 0 30	Tennessee Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Taylor 5 118 0 35 Rogers 7 112 1 26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				USM	TENN
	FG	12:17	Justin Estes 30 Yd	3	0
	TD	09:29	Austin Rogers 26 Yd Pass From Erik Ainge (Daniel Lincoln Kick)	3	7
	TD	09:11	Chris Johnson 69 Yd Pass From Jeremy Young (Justin Estes Kick)	10	7
	FG	03:54	Britt Barefoot 51 Yd	13	7
	FG	00:37	Daniel Lincoln 38 Yd	13	10
SECOND QUARTER				USM	TENN
	FG	05:18	Justin Estes 40 Yd	16	10
	TD	00:41	Josh Briscoe 5 Yd Pass From Erik Ainge (Daniel Lincoln Kick)	16	17
THIRD QUARTER				USM	TENN
	FG	12:04	Daniel Lincoln 36 Yd	16	20
	TD	08:13	Arian Foster 9 Yd Run (Daniel Lincoln Kick)	16	27
FOURTH QUARTER				USM	TENN
	FG	12:19	Justin Estes 24 Yd	19	27
	TD	08:32	Arian Foster 1 Yd Run (Daniel Lincoln Kick)	19	34
	FG	06:33	Daniel Lincoln 47 Yd	19	37
	SF	05:22	Penalty On Stephen Reaves In End Zone	19	39

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A trio of Tennessee wide receivers combine for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith? They're gone. The new trio of Austin Rogers, Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe had a breakout game against Southern Mississippi.

Erik Ainge threw a touchdown pass a piece to Rogers and Briscoe, Arian Foster ran for two scores and No. 24 Tennessee defeated Southern Miss 39-19 Saturday night.

"The potential has always been there, so we aren't shocked that they're where they're supposed to be every time," Ainge said about his new top pass catchers.

Ainge completed 23 of 36 for 276 yards, getting a lot of help from the developing receivers. Rogers caught seven passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, Taylor added 118 yards on five catches and Briscoe caught a touchdown.

Foster ran for 125 yards on 23 carries.

The Vols made a key conversion on third-and-short with when Ainge connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Briscoe with 41 seconds left in the second quarter to send Tennessee (1-1) into the locker room with a 17-16 lead.

After trailing Southern Miss most of the first half, the Vols held the lead after the Briscoe touchdown, capitalizing on three lost fumbles by Southern Mississippi (1-1).

Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo forced the ball from Tory Harrison with 9:35 in the third quarter and Jarod Parrish recovered. A 35-yard pass from Ainge to Taylor set up Foster's 9-yd touchdown five plays later to put the Vols up 27-16.

"Anytime you get a turnover, it's important to capitalize on the opportunity," Foster said.

Harrison fumbled again on a kickoff return with 8:21 in the fourth quarter and kicker Daniel Lincoln, filling in for an injured Britton Colquitt, connected on a 47-yard field goal pushing Tennessee to a 37-19 lead.

Tennessee was awarded a safety with 5:29 in the fourth after Nevin McKenzie forced the ball from backup quarterback Stephen Reaves, who kicked the ball out of the Southern Miss end zone.

"Football is a game where you can't have turnovers," Southern Miss quarterback Jeremy Young said. "the team who forces the most and recovers the most is normally the team that wins and that's what happened."

Tennessee's defense struggled in the first half, allowing a one-play scoring drive when Young threw down the field to Chris Johnson to put the Golden Eagles up 10-7 with 9:11 in the first. The 69-yard touchdown pass was a career-high completion for Young.

Young went 19-of-36 for a career-high 254 yards, surpassing his previous best of 193 yards set against Memphis in 2006. He also ran for 48 yards on nine carries.

Damion Fletcher, who rushed for 156 yards last week against Tennessee-Martin, was limited to only 37 yards on 11 carries. Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said Fletcher was hindered by cramps and sat out for much of the second half.

The Golden Eagles converted only three of 16 third downs, struggling mostly inside the red zone.

"We had chances to score and settled for field goals," Bower said. "When you play good teams you have to get touchdowns."

Justin Estes connected on field goals of 30 yards, 41 yards and 24 yards for Southern Miss, his first career field goals, but missed on a 42-yard attempt. Britt Barefoot also succeeded in his first career field goal, a 51 yarder.

Lincoln also hit a 38-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Fulmer said he opted not to use Colquitt for punting or kicking responsibilities because he was still sore from punting in the Cal game with a lingering muscle pull. Fulmer said he was pleased with how Lincoln and punter Chad Cunningham have performed in his place.

"Lincoln, our young kicker, and Cunningham, our young punter, came through for us," Fulmer said. "Britton might have been able to play, but we took the chance that the youngster would get it done."