Tennessee walk-on safety Will Brooks has played well this season. However, his interception to seal the game against Alabama will be a lifelong high point in his football career.
“It meant a lot obviously,” the Birmingham, Ala., native said following the game. “Beating Alabama is always just a great feeling, especially for this fan base and for all the players. All the coaches. It’s just an unbelievable moment. So it was super exciting.”
When asked about Brooks, Heupel said, “You talk about a journey, man, and coming out on the other side of it, a guy that continues to just invest every single day and you reap the rewards. That’ll be a moment in his life. I’m sure he’ll tell that story to all of his grandkids and great grandkids. And anybody will be able to listen to it. You know what I mean? What a special, special player, but really just special young guy, you know, I mean, young man.”
The Vols have proven to be consistently great on defense this season. That was certainly the case against Alabama as the Vols’ offense struggled for must much of the game.
Tennessee is led by defensive coordinator Tim Banks, who has answered the naysayers that questioned previous seasons in which the Vols’ defense has struggled and has been overshadowed by its offensive counterparts.
“He just knows a ton about football,” Brooks said of Banks. “Just the way he teaches us and prepares us to be able to go out there every single day just is unbelievable and just super thankful to have him as a coach.”
Said linebacker Arion Carter, “Just having a guy like that, that’s going to be able to put you in the best position in the situation to go win. Knowing that he’s going to call the play call, that’s going to be able to put us in the best situation to go dominate our one on one. It’s just great having a coach like that and a defensive mind. Being able to pick his brain every day in and day out.”
The Vols certainly held Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in check. Milroe’s longest passing play of the game was 28 yards and his longest running play of the game was just 11 yards.
“We knew he was a great quarterback,” Carter said. “He quarterbacks the offense at a tremendous level. We knew we had to be able to disrupt the passer, to be able to go in and get them off the field on third down.”
Said Brooks, “He’s a great player. We knew that. Like, obviously he has the ball every single play. And he can make plays with his legs and with his arm. So we knew we had to contain him all night. And I think we did a great job of that.”
Heupel predicted Brooks would tell his grandkids about his big Bama play one day. Brooks didn’t argue that would be the case.
“It’s going to be up there at the top for sure, and I definitely will tell my grandkids kids all about that,” Brooks said. “So it’s just a great feeling.”
