A game which has been in the making for two decades finally took place on Saturday night, when the Bristol Motor Speedway hosted the college football clash between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies

The contest caught the imagination of fans from both college's, and the final count saw a crowd of 156,990 confirmed to be in attendance, a new NCAA-record by some distance. 

A record-breaking attendance saw in the 'Battle at Bristol' (image source: Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)

The game started with Virginia Tech taking an early two touchdown lead, before Joshua Dobbs took over the contest with a five touchdown performance as the Vols moved to 2-0 for the season. 

Hokies make strong start, dominating possession and scoreboard in first quarter

Coming in as the underdogs, it was Virginia Tech who made the better start, and from the get-go their offence produced some promising moments. A 12-play drive to open up the game was only ruined when Joey Slye missed the resulting field-goal, with the Hokies defence then holding Dobbs and co. to an early three-and-out.

With their second possession of the game, Virginia Tech continued to move the ball well and after gaining 55 yards from seven plays, they managed to finish off this drive with points, with influential full-back Sam Rogers diving to the pylon after a swing pass from Jerod Evans for the seven-yard score.

Another strong defensive stand saw Virginia Tech receive the ball once more and from deep in his own territory, Travon McMillan broke off a 69-yard run to double the lead. As the first quarter came to an end, Justin Fuente's group had outgained the Vols 204 yards to 28 in a one-sided opening phase. 

Vols assume control with 24-0 second quarter

Following last weekend's below-par victory over Appalachian State, doubts were cast over pre-season darlings Tennessee. Down 14 in a tough spot, the Vols answered their critics with a three-touchdown second quarter to wrestle back control. 

Recovering a fumble on the Virginia Tech five-yard line, Tennessee were given the perfect opportunity to grab their first score and they did just that with Dobbs passing to Jauan Jennings on their first offensive play of the quarter. 

Jalen Hurd ran well for 99 yards (image source: Michael Shroyer/Getty Images)

After forcing a punt, Dobbs led a quickfire four-play 90-yard drive to tie the game up which ended with Josh Malone hauling in a 38-yard pass from his senior quarterback. 

The Hokies offence continued to stall, and after Aaron Medley gave the Volunteers their first lead of the game with a 34 yard field-goal, Dobbs scrambled into the endzone from five yards out to help his side gain control at the half. 

Dobbs continues to impress as Tennessee move to 2-0

After Virginia Tech's sixth-fumble of the season, Tennessee took absolute control with their 31th consecutive point of the game when Alvin Kamara became the third Vol receiver to grab a touchdown, this one from 23 yards out. 

A 26-yard field goal by Slye arrested the Hokies slide somewhat, but their offence wasn't gaining enough first downs to ever really threaten Tennessee who pushed on in the final quarter to move to 2-0 for the season.

It was Dobbs and John Kelly who added gloss to the scoreline with touchdown runs within 13 seconds of one another, following another turnover, with Shai McKenzie scoring a garbage-time score three minutes from the final for their first touchdown since the end of the first quarter.

Both teams return to their home stadiums for week three encounters, with Virginia Tech looking to get back on track against Boston College, while Ohio head to Neyland Stadium for a clash with the Vols.

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