Tennessee was back to its ordinary self in the kicking game on Saturday. In the return game, the Vols showed they could be a bit special.
Beginning with placekicker Max Gilbert, the Vols converted on all four of his field goal attempts, which included a 51-yarder, against Mississippi State as the Vols rolled the Bulldogs 33-14. That was quite the rebound from last week when the redshirt freshman missed three field goals against Kentucky.
“Awesome for him, you know what I mean?” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “Outside noise, you can try to ignore it. It’s pretty hard to do in today’s world. Talk about competitor resiliency coming out putting it between the uprights. Awesome for him doing the things that we’ve seen in practice.”
The Vols also got a boost in the punt return game. Tennessee freshman defensive back Boo Carter returned six punts for 56 yards, including a 28-yard return, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking one throughout the game against the Bulldogs.
“Boo’s dynamic, you know, athletic,” Heupel said. “Just as a young player, how he’s continuing to grow and, and where you trust everything that goes into it as a returner because that’s essentially the quarterback back there and commanding and controlling and being a decision maker and just continue to grow.
“Saw tonight, he’s dynamic with it in his hands. So it was awesome to get that from him tonight. Boo is a young player just going to continue to get better and better in all areas. So really, really proud of what he’s done in a short amount of time here.”
Carter has gone from a backup defensive back to begin the season to a consistent force for the Vols’ defense to, now, an electric punt returner with loads of potential.
“Boo’s consistency, really over the last month, has really gained the trust from from everybody on this staff to for him to go operate the way he did tonight in that position,” Heupel said.
So has Gilbert.
