KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The coaches warned Tauren Poole not to pitch the ball on a flea-flicker play. When Poole's chance came to run the play, he saw a defender out of the corner of his eye and pitched the ball anyway so he could block for Tyler Bray, who he hoped would be able to freestyle the rest.
The gamble paid off as Bray hit Da'Rick Rogers on a 47-yard touchdown pass that gave the Volunteers an early lead and gave them momentum as they rolled to a 42-16 win over Montana in the season opener for both teams on Saturday night.
"Oh yeah, (Poole) saved my life," Bray said. "I saw the guy coming and just kind of rolled off and prayed that he would get him."
Justin Hunter grabbed six receptions for 146 yards, and Rogers had 100 yards on five catches to become the Volunteers' first pair to each have more than 100 yards receiving in a single game since 2007. Both players had a touchdown catch.
After kickoff was delayed for an hour and a half for lightning, Tennessee lost yards on its first drive as Caleb McSurdy sacked Tyler Bray for a loss of 10 yards on third down. Montana's Peter Nguyen fumbled the subsequent punt, and Bray connected with Rogers on the flea-flicker on the next play to put the Vols up 7-0 with 12:47 to go in the first quarter.
On the third-and-7 at the Vols 19 on the following drive, Bray hit Hunter around midfield, and Hunter outran defenders the rest of the way for the 81-yard touchdown play.
Bray finished 17-of-24 with 293 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The touchdown pass to Rogers marked his seventh consecutive game with two or more TDs, tying a record set by Peyton Manning during his senior season in 1997.
"Tyler did a good job," Tennesesee coach Derek Dooley said. "He was poised out there. There were still some plays he could have done better, but for the most part he managed the game very well."
The Grizzlies got their lone score in the first half when Jordan Johnson connected with Jabin Sambrano on an 80-yard pass play, burning Tennessee true freshman Justin Coleman on the route. The score cut the Vols' lead to 28-7 with 3:49 left in the second quarter, but the Grizzlies couldn't sustain the momentum and went three-and-out on the following drive, their last of the half.
The touchdown play was Sambrano's only catch of the night, but the 80 yards led Montana's receivers.
The Grizzlies pinned a punt by their own Sean Winn at the Tennessee 1-yard line, and Ben Hughes downed Poole in the end zone for a safety that cut Tennessee's margin to 28-9 with 12:45 left in the third quarter.
It was as close as Montana would get as Art Evans picked off Johnson two plays later and returned the ball 37 yards for a touchdown that put the Vols up 35-9.
"It could have been close going into the fourth quarter the way our defense hung in there," Montana coach Robin Pflugrad said. "I don't think it was overwhelming. We played hard on defense."
Johnson finished 19-of-36 for 226 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Nguyen had 67 yards rushing on nine carries and Jordan Canada scored on a 7-yard run with 6:04 left in the game.
Tennessee held the ball nearly twice as long as Montana in the first half and outgained the Grizzlies 302 yards to 140. The Vols took control of the game thanks to a few long possessions, including a 96-yard drive that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Bray to Marlin Lane.
They had their share of mistakes beyond the safety, though none proved to be too costly. They fumbled the wet ball six times in the first half but managed to recover each time.
Bray was sacked three times for a loss of 21 yards, and the offensive line struggled at times to open up holes for the running game. Poole, who ran for 1,034 yards in 2010, still managed to pick up 98 yards on 24 carries.
"We should have got those fumbles," Montana safety Mike McCord said. "Tennessee is a good team. We could have played better."