Tennessee responded with a strong performance against Vanderbilt tonight in Nashville, and there were several strong individual performances. We share out standout performers in this edition of "Game Balls".
Offense
Jabari Small started the night with scoring for Tennessee, and he seemingly put the nail in the coffin early in the third quarter with a 52-yard scamper for his second score of the night. Small was crucial for the Vols in this one, and he had a complete game all around. He finished with 11 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns. However, he has to share this game ball with his backfield mate, Jaylen Wright. Wright had two long rushing touchdowns and showed his open field speed in both instances. He had five carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
Defense
Tennessee had a strong defensive performance tonight, so this was hard to pick. Tamarion McDonald was stellar at times in space, but Roman Harrison got his tonight. He had two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss on the night. The veteran edge presence was huge for the Vols tonight.
Special Teams
Dee Williams extended Tennessee's lead to 21-0 in the second quarter with a punt return touchdown of 73 yards. Williams has been on the cusp of breaking one off this season, and he was able to convert on Saturday night. He earned his second special teams game ball from us for the season. Vanderbilt also faked a punt early in the third quarter and converted the distance, but Williams flew up from his return position and drilled the punter, forcing a fumble, which the Vols pounced on. Two plays later Tennessee scored from 50-yards away to extend its lead to 35-0.
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