Special teams, defense and a dominant run game carried Tennessee Football to victory over the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday. That 20-13 win would make the 1998 Vols proud and was the opposite of how Josh Heupel has won games his whole career. Here are the five UT players who made such an unconventional win for Heupel possible.
5. Jaylen Wright
You can’t say enough about how well the Vols ran the ball. After all, Texas A&M is loaded with five-stars on the defensive line and has one of the best rush defenses in the nation. However, Jaylen Wright torched them up the middle, carrying it 19 times for 136 yards, an average of just over seven yards a carry. He was incredible.
4. Cooper Mays
While Wright ran the ball, the story of the run game was Cooper Mays up front. It’s clear how big of an absence he was the first four games. While Ollie Lane struggled severely at left guard, and while Javontez Spraggins had a sloppier than usual game, Mays at center paved the way for UT to gain 232 yards collectively on the ground. Wright led the backs, but Mays was the key.
3. Kamal Hadden
Every Tennessee Football fan who wanted him gone after last year owes Kamal Hadden an apology. Forget the interception to seal the deal at the end of the game. Hadden was dominant in coverage and had the second highest PFF grade on defense. While Gabe Jeudy-Lally deserves a shoutout with his two pass deflections and pick, Hadden was the shutdown corner in the game.
2. James Pearce Jr.
This honor should be shared by the whole defensive line. Omari Thomas, Bryson Eason and Kurrott Garland all got a huge push in the middle, with Eason getting a tackle for a loss, and Tyler Baron got a sack on the outside. James Pearce Jr. was the star, though, with two tackles for a loss, a sack and even dropping back in pass coverage. He had a PFF grade of over 90, leading everybody.
1. Dee Williams
Yes, the other players on this list did more work since they played more snaps, but Dee Williams had the best special teams sequence in a long time for Tennessee Football. He first was the player to catch a Jackson Ross punt to pin Texas A&M on the half-yard line. That set up an A&M punt that he returned for a touchdown to put the Vols up 14-10. They didn’t relinquish the lead after that.
