Tennessee Vols fifth-year senior wide receiver Ramel Keyton played his last game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
And Keyton, who signed with the Vols during the Jeremy Pruitt era, went out with a bang, catching four passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the Vols' 48-24 win against Vanderbilt. It was Keyton's first time going over 100 yards in a game this season.
After the game, Keyton was asked about Tennessee's journey in 2023 with the Vols finishing the regular season at 8-4.
Keyton made it clear that winning eight games isn't the expectation at Tennessee.
‘It’s been of course up and down, but we raised the expectations and standard of this program," said Keyton. "And I feel like us a senior group, even last year, we did a good job of that. It’s not like Tennessee is expecting to win eight games. It may be good for other schools…but our expectation is national championships, SEC championships, even though we didn’t get it this year, that’s still the expectation. And I’m pretty sure next year, they’re going to get it.”
There have been times in the past when an 8-4 season at Tennessee would be celebrated as a huge accomplishment. But those days are in the past. With a bowl win, the Vols will match their second best record since 2007 (9-4). But even if that's the case, this Tennessee team will enter the 2024 season with a chip on their shoulder. They'll be eager to prove that 2023 was simply a speed bump on the way to becoming one of the top programs in the nation.
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