What’s the price of a beat down? For Kent State on Saturday night it was valued at $1.35 million, the amount No. 7 Tennessee paid the Golden Flashes for the 71-0 non-conference win at Neyland Stadium.

The Vols led 37-0 at the end of the first quarter, 65-0 at halftime and emptied the bench for much of the final three quarters while settling for just two field goals in the second half.

Tennessee set modern-era program records for scoring in a quarter, scoring in a half and scoring in a game at Neyland Stadium.

Vols paid non-conference opponents $3.5 million for home games this season

Paying opponents for non-conference home games is standard practice.

The Vols paid Chattanooga $550,000 for the season-opening 69-3 win on August 31 at Neyland Stadium, according to game contracts listed on Tennessee’s athletics website. UTEP will be paid $1.6 million for its trip to Knoxville on November 23.

Next season Tennessee is set to pay ETSU $575,000, UAB $1.65 million and New Mexico State $1.6 million for the three 2025 non-conference home games.

Neutral-site games, on the other hand, come with a paycheck. Both Tennessee and North Carolina State got $4 million for playing in the Duke’s Mayo Classic last week at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. 

Next season, when Tennessee opens with Syracuse at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, both the Vols and the Orange will get $3.8 million for playing in the game in Atlanta.

Kent State will follow one buy game with another, going from the 71-0 loss at Tennessee straight to a road game at Penn State on Saturday. 

The Golden Flashes, who lost at home to FCS St. Francis (PA) last week, have lost 13 straight games against FBS competition after going 1-11 last season. The lone win came against FCS Central Connecticut State.

Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee at No. 15 Oklahoma, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Kent State finished Saturday night’s loss with just 112 total yards. The Flashes ran for 54 yards on 32 attempts, averaging 1.7 yards per attempt, and had 58 net passing yards. 

“Really good football team (Tennessee),” Kent State coach Kenni Burns said during his postgame press conference. “Congratulations to Coach (Josh) Heupel. They are a team that should compete for a national championship. They have weapons all over the place. They play really clean. We didn’t play good enough, obviously. We have to get better and learn from this. 

“I know that people are going to think it’s an excuse, but it’s not. We have a really young football team. They saw today how far away they are from where they need to be to compete at the highest level. We have to watch it and get better from it. 

“That’s a hurt and disappointed football team right now,” Burns added. “There is nothing we can do about it. We have to learn, get better and keep moving on.”

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