Tennessee Vols to play at Bristol Motor Speedway

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/744875810549604352

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/744874983265013762

@GrantRamey Verified account
‏@GrantRamey

Bristol FAQ page says grandstand tickets have been "exhausted." If you're buying anything from BMS now it's $400 or more on track/infield.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/ESPN_SEC/status/746358114895568896

Opponent: Tennessee (in Bristol, Tennessee)

Date of matchup: Sept. 10

New coach Justin Fuente not only has to fill the huge shoes of Frank Beamer, he takes over a team that has a plethora of questions on both sides of the ball. So what will life be like without Beamer, who had 22 straight winning seasons and 22 consecutive bowl appearances? How will the young kid on the block, who had an exceptional track record at Memphis, fare under the bright lights...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SportsRadioWNML/status/747398613286981632

[jbcarol]

I wonder what kind of trophy Baz will do for that game.............................

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/752910665988337664

[jbcarol]

 Jimmy Hyams ‏@JimmyHyams Jul 26

Jones said the gigantic jumbotron at Battle
at Bristol `will change outdoor stadiums forever.' He said `Colossus' cost $14 million

Jones said ESPN/ABC announcer Dr. Jerry Punch talked to team about pit stops, the ultimate team act in sports, and related it to football

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KCSUPERTALK929/status/761672010741190656

Biggest takeaways from @BattleAtBristol presser:
- Once you enter the gate, you are in for the evening. NO RE-ENTRY AFTER EXIT

If you go to @BattleAtBristol, plan to tailgate afterwards, as well. Traffic will be held for 1 hour after game is completed

.@BattleAtBristol kickoff scheduled for 8p on 9.10.16. @jcaldwellbms announcing gates will open at 4p that day

[jbcarol]

I wonder what kind of trophy Baz will do for that game.............................

https://twitter.com/JonathanToye1/status/763460700232617984

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/767702782459740161

https://twitter.com/michaelpix/status/767692908413673472

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Knpf4WrX8s

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/767881244264849408

Legendary race track owner Bruton Smith and his company – Speedway Motorsports, Inc. – bought the historic racetrack in 1996. Almost immediately, Smith and his leadership team had interest in hosting a football game.

"We're in racing and college football country, those are the two things" said Logan McCabe, vice president of consumer group at Bristol Motor Speedway. "I guess you could throw religion in there too...

"To some, racing and college football is a religion."

Even walking through the NASCAR crowd, the demographics are obvious. Tennessee orange and Virginia Tech maroon dominated the crowd.

Bristol is positioned perfectly for a matchup of this caliber. While the track is in Bristol, Tenn., it is a sister city with from nearby Bristol, Va., on the cusp of ACC country. When a resident says they are Bristol, they make sure you know which side.

"Anybody who's from the Tennessee side of Bristol is a UT fan, and the other side is full of Virginia Tech fans," said Jeremy Davidson, director of business development at Bristol Motor Speedway. "People knew about the possibility, that this had been discussed for 20 years. This place is like a football stadium on steroids."

Smith came to the University of Tennessee with the idea first, but struggled to get everyone on board. It was the height of the Phil Fulmer era in Knoxville, but neutral-site games had not yet reached prominence. The talks died out.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/danharralson/status/769155193355329536

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/770010624722145280

[jbcarol]

 Rhiannon Potkey ‏@TennesseeBeat 19h19 hours ago

Rhiannon Potkey Retweeted BristolMotorSpeedway

Vols can't look ahead yet, but the fans can.

https://twitter.com/BMSupdates/status/771381643697328128

[HamIAm]

Word is the Vol band will play their version of the Who classic, "I Can See For Miles," to be followed by the Carole King hit "Way Over Yonder."

[jbcarol]

Patrick Brown ‏@patrickbrownTFP 12h12 hours ago

Early Vegas lines have Tennessee a 9- or 10-point favorite against Virginia Tech.

[DeltaBoy]

Go Vols.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/ESPN_SEC/status/773151927974580224

Battle at Bristol: Virginia Tech (1-0) vs. Tennessee (1-0), (8 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)

Attendance records are expected to be set when these teams clash at the track (that's right, the race track: Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee). A place typically reserved for NASCAR races will be converted to the largest college football stadium in the country on Saturday night. As for the teams, Tennessee survived a scare at home from Appalachian State but emerged victorious and hopes to have a much better effort when they face the Hokies, who beat FCS foe Liberty 36-13 in Justin Fuente's Virginia Tech coaching debut.

2. Arkansas (1-0) at TCU (1-0), (7 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN)

Both of these teams got some serious scares from their opening-week opponents. Arkansas needed a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Austin Allen to Jeremy Sprinkle to hold off Louisiana Tech 21-20 while TCU trailed South Dakota State by double digits early on before eventually pulling away with a 59-41 win over the FCS squad.

[East TN HAWG]

This is bigger than a bowl game.  The cities of Bristol TN and Bristol VA are going all out.  Kenny Chesney concert Friday, and several activities Saturday downtown on State street.  Drove by the track last night and the RV's are rolling in.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GoVolsXtra/status/773176044711018496

Rhiannon Potkey ‏@TennesseeBeat 5h5 hours ago

Tennessee and Virginia Tech are both guaranteed $4 million for @BattleAtBristol, and have a chance to receive an additional $300,000 each.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Vol_Football/status/773521348689817600

[jbcarol]

Dale Jr. to be "GameDay" picker at Bristol

Earnhardt Jr. will be the celebrity guest picker for ESPN's "College GameDay" on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 9 a.m. show will originate from the Earnhardt East Parking lot. Virginia Tech will face Tennessee at the racetrack Saturday night.

Earnhardt has been sidelined from racing while dealing with concussion symptoms.

[HamIAm]

ESPN comment on the game:

For instance, the press box will be 300 yards from the game action.

That's yards, not feet.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17490975/pittsburgh-panthers-penn-state-nittany-lions-renew-rivalry-lost-power-5-realignment

[DLUXHOG]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/770010624722145280

folks sitting in those endzone seats will be a 1/4 of mile away from the field............

[jcbville]

Must admit this is pretty cool

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/774042381133807616

Kent Babb on why 2016 is so key for the Vols and especially for Jones.

Butch Jones believes Tennessee football's crossroads moment came last year, of all times, after a home loss to Arkansas.

Players were crying afterward, and so Jones called a team meeting for the next night: 8 o'clock sharp. The Volunteers coach walked in at 7:40, and the room was packed. Every player was early and in his seat, eager to hear from their coach. Things like this matter to a detail-obsessed coach, and that told him something about his team's resolve.

It helped that the Vols went 7-1 after that, and for months Jones told people he believed that loss last October wasn't just a return to Southeastern Conference relevance. It was, as he put it recently, "the turning point for our program."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/GrantRamey/status/774353836337143808

[jbcarol]

Tonight's game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway promises to shatter the record for largest crowd in college football history, with more than 150,000 expected to be on hand.

But whose record will the "Battle at Bristol" break?

Unclear at this time.

Michigan and Notre Dame at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor holds the record for largest crowd at 115,109. But the NCAA only began keeping "official" attendance records in 1948.

A pair of games in the late 1920s at Chicago's Soldier Field — both involving Notre Dame — lay claim to the unofficial college football attendance record. The Fighting Irish beat USC 7-6 on Nov. 26, 1927, in front of what has been reported to be as many as 123,000 fans. According to Notre Dame's official athletic site, however, only 99,573 were listed as paid.

The following season — on Oct. 13, 1928, Notre Dame beat Navy 7-0. The crowd for that game was estimated at 120,000, but again only 103,081 were paid.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/AdamSparks/status/774385843054186496

[jbcarol]

@GrantRamey ‏@GrantRamey 45m45 minutes ago

That chopper commute has to be rough.

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 2h2 hours ago

The media binoculars on our seats at the Battle at Bristol came with an instruction booklet. I mean ... is that really necessary?

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 3h3 hours ago

The amount of people tailgating at the #BattleAtBristol is just crazy. It's like this for miles.

[jbcarol]

ABC is doing a 20-plus-minute pre-game show for this one.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Let's Go Hokies!!

[jbcarol]

No score halfway thru the 1st

[jbcarol]

VaTech 7  Vols 0   4:32 1st

[runninhog]

Tennessee sucks. If they lose this, Botch is in big trouble.

[jbcarol]

VaTech 14  UT 0   2:48 1st

[jbcarol]

Tennessee has 28 total yards in the 1st quarter

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 2m2 minutes ago

Vols touchdown drive: 4 plays, 90 yards, 1:39.

[jbcarol]

VPI 14  Vols 14  9:00 2nd

[jbcarol]

 Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 2m2 minutes ago

Total yards: VaTech 224, #Vols 124.
Score: Vols 17, VaTech 14.

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 2m2 minutes ago

Touchdown Tennessee. Joshua Dobbs 5-yard keeper up the gut on third-and-goal.

[jbcarol]

Halftime in Bristol

VT 14  Vols 24

[jbcarol]

VPI 17  Vols 31  3:00 3rd

[jbcarol]

Wes Rucker ‏@wesrucker247 4m4 minutes ago

Total yards: Virginia Tech 321, Tennessee 314. Score: Tennessee 45, Virginia Tech 17. I got nothin.

[jbcarol]

 Josh Ward ‏@Josh_Ward 17m17 minutes ago

Corrected: Josh Dobbs has 197 total yards (106 rushing, 91 passing) and five total touchdowns. Dobbs is UT's leading rusher tonight.

[jbcarol]

Despite a bumpy start, No. 17 Tennessee got the checkered flag in the "Battle at Bristol."

Jones On injuries to linebacker Darrin Kirkland and defensive end LaTroy Lewis, "Too early too tell. We'll know more when we get back to Knoxville." Jones initially called injuries "ankle sprains," but Kirkland was carted off the field and Lewis was seen visibly upset in a walking boot postgame.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/774797875662483456

[jbcarol]

Chris Low ‏@ClowESPN 10h10 hours ago Tennessee, USA

Josh Dobbs passes Jimmy Streater as Tennessee's all-time leading rusher as a quarterback.

[East TN HAWG]

I went to this game.  I had a suite pass on the 45 yard line. BMS knows how to create a fan experience.  I've been able go to a few races and I have  never seen that many folks.  I was in a suite and could not tell how loud it was.  Unbelievable tailgating. They had 6-8 concerts and even one on the way out.  Spectacular fireworknshow at the end.  The jumbotron is not as big as ATT from sideline but larger from the endzone.

It was a great experience.  I only wish the Hawgs were playing.  Our game was on in the suite though.
 

[DeltaBoy]

Good win by the Vols.