Chuck Who? Thompson Powers Tennessee : SEC: He replaces injured Webb and scores two touchdowns in a 40-7 victory over Mississippi State.

Tony Thompson made it easy for No. 8 Tennessee to forget Chuck Webb.

Webb, an All-Southeastern Conference selection a year ago as a freshman, was sidelined for the season because of a knee injury last week. Thompson stepped in.

He rushed for 248 yards and two touchdowns as Tennessee beat Mississippi State, 40-7, in a conference opener.

“I didn’t surprise myself. It was a big game, but the offensive line did a great job and big holes were there,” said Thompson, a 5-foot-11, 181-pound senior starting his first game for the Volunteers.

Thompson had 200 yards rushing at halftime as Tennessee took a 27-7 lead.

“In high school, I had 275 yards in a first half but didn’t play the second--that’s the most I remember,” he said.

Tennessee (2-0-1) got four field goals from Greg Burke and had little trouble with Mississippi State (0-1). State finished with 217 yards of total offense.

Thompson ran 69 yards for a first-quarter touchdown that gave the Volunteer a 9-7 lead, and his 80-yard run on a fake reverse made the score 16-7 early in the second quarter.

Thompson rushed 22 times, and his total tied him for No. 2 on Tennessee’s single-game list. Webb had 294 yards against Mississippi in 1988, and Johnnie Jones 248 against Vanderbilt in 1983.

Tennessee, unbeaten in nine games dating to last season, had 483 yards of offense and has scored 121 points in its first three games.

“Our offensive line did an excellent job, and Tony Thompson rarely made a bad cut,” Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors said. “Not getting the ball in the end zone concerned me. We came away quite a few times without getting points.”

Leading, 17-7, and on the Mississippi State 32-yard line in the second quarter, Tennessee used a trick play for a touchdown. Guard Bernard Dafney picked up the snap, which the center had put on the ground, and ran around left end for a touchdown.

“It gave us some breathing room at the time,” Majors said. “It was one of those plays that either goes, or doesn’t go.”

Mississippi State, which has averaged one SEC victory a season since 1982, lost four fumbles and two interceptions. It was Mississippi State’s seventh consecutive SEC loss. The Bulldogs had 12 first downs--nine after Tennessee had taken a 30-7 lead in the third quarter.

“They were sharp and crisp and looked like a seasoned team,” Mississippi State Coach Rockey Felker said. “Obviously, we looked like we hadn’t played a game. We can’t get much worse than we were out there today.”

Mississippi State’s only touchdown came on a 70-yard punt return by Tony James that gave the Bulldogs a brief first-quarter lead. Two plays after the next kickoff, Thompson ran for the go-ahead touchdown.

Burke kicked field goals of 45, 30, 33 and 25 yards for Tennessee, and linebacker Earnest Fields ran 44 yards with a pass interception for a fourth-quarter touchdown.

On a hot, muggy afternoon, Tennessee put pressure on Mississippi State from the outset. Anthony Morgan returned the opening kickoff 49 yards and Volunteers then drove to the nine before Thompson fumbled.

On its next possession, Tennessee drove to the Mississippi State 10, but Burke’s field-goal attempt was blocked after the snap from center was high. Two plays later a Mississippi State fumble at the Bulldog 33 set up the first of Burke’s four field goals.