REPLAY: Tennessee football defeats Austin Peay 30-13 in 2023 home opener

Tennessee football was finally back at Neyland Stadium.

The No. 9 Vols (2-0) defeated Austin Peay 30-13 on Saturday. The home opener for Tennessee wasn't pretty despite the victory.

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton was 21-of-33 for 228 yards. He threw two touchdowns and ran for another.

Tennessee football score vs. Austin Peay: Live updates from home opener

Fourth quarter

Tennessee 30, Austin Peay 13: Joe Milton hits McCallan Castles for a TD

McCallan Castles scores a TD on a pass from Joe Milton only 58 seconds after the Austin Peay score. First career UT touchdown for Castles.

Tennessee 23, Austin Peay 13: Defense beaten badly on Govs' TD

Austin Peay quarterback Mike DiLiello hits Trey Goodman for 52 yards and an easy score with 9:01 left to play.

Third quarter

Tennessee 23, Austin Peay 6: Third field goal for Campbell

Charles Campbell makes his third field goal, this one from 22 yards out with 6:33 to play in third quarter.

Tennessee 20, Austin Peay 6: Milton to Keyton to start the 3rd quarter

Quarterback Joe Milton is now 14-for-22 passing after hitting Ramel Keyton from five yards out for a Tennessee TD and a 20-6 lead with 13:30 to play in the third quarter.

Second quarter

Tennessee 13, Austin Peay 6: Joe Milton gives Vols the lead

Quarterback Joe Milton takes the snaps and rushes up the middle for 6-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left. More importantly the Vols have the lead going into the half.

Austin Peay 6, Tennessee 6: A battle of field goals

Campbell hits from 37 yards and Tennessee has tied the game with 4:55 left before halftime.

Austin Peay 6, Tennessee 3: Second field goal by Trujillo for surprising Govs

Trujillo makes his second field goal, this time from 34 yards out, to lead 6-3 with 8:15 left in the second quarter.

Austin Peay is getting great play by its defense, too.

First quarter

Austin Peay 3, Tennessee 3: Campbell ties game with 28-yard field goal

Charles Campbell with a 28-yard field goal for Tennessee ties the game at 3-3 with 5:51 left in the quarter. Tennessee set up the scoring opportunity after it recovered a fumbled punt return.

Austin Peay 3, Tennessee 0: 45-yard field goal by Trujillo

Maddux Trujillo of Austin Peay makes 45-yard field goal on the Govs' first drive to take 3-0 lead with 11:06 to play.

Mike DiLiello's run on fourth-and-2 was a huge play.

Game time is 5:30 p.m. after weather delay

The game is slated to resume at 5:30 p.m. with the teams taking the field to warm up at 5:17 p.m.

Start of game delayed by lightning in area

Tennessee's home opener against Austin Peay is a weather delay due to storms in the Knoxville area.

Three players ruled out for Tennessee

Tennessee will play Austin Peay without center Cooper Mays, defensive lineman Elijah Simmons and linebacker Keenan Pili, a UT spokesperson announced.

UT beat Austin Peay 45-0 in 2013 in their only previous meeting.

The Vols are coming off a 49-13 win over Virginia in Nashville. They're trying to build on that momentum with another lopsided victory heading into next week's SEC opener at Florida.

It's being streamed on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: REPLAY: Tennessee football defeats Austin Peay 30-13 in 2023 home opener