Former Tennessee Player Devrin Young Shares Vols Statement Following Alabama Loss

“Tuscaloosa is a tough place to play. You know, those guys, the staff, and the players showed up. I feel like they gave their best shot. You know, we had a few things go against us. at the wrong time. And if you look at the breakdown, we technically really only lost that 2nd quarter, and that 2nd quarter was the biggest difference. Outside of that, those guys, you know, they showed up, they played, and they made plays. There's some things that we can get better at. Like, I think going into the half of that game, we got recorded with a good bit of drops, but in the same breath, those wide receivers make huge plays. Bishop was awesome. The line was awesome. I mean, you know, again, Tuscaloosa is just a hard place. It's a tough environment to play in, and especially win. That is a big deal for any program, to be honest with you.“

He then would detail whether or not he second guesses the play call to end the first half of the game.

“I’m not gonna second-guess coach, you know our head coach has really brought a whole different element to our program. I'm really proud to have him as a part of our culture. We were at maybe the 2nd or 3rd yard line. I do believe in my heart we're strong enough to punch it in there, but you know, coach, he may have seen something and understood something that we didn't. So, unfortunately, it went against us."

Young would jump into conversation about DeSean Bishop.

“You know, with him being a sophomore and as young as he is, how effective he is in this offense. You know, I got a big soft spot for Bishop because we had the same coach and staff. So, I already know we were running the same plays in high school. You know, the amount of carries he was getting each game, my lineman coach, Coach Fendley was sending me his stats every week just because again, we had the same coaching staff. Bishop is a great story. Anybody who comes out of Knoxville and runs through the T gets the utmost support and respect from the locals. And that's what I love about Knoxville. They really support anybody who makes it. Whether that be DeSean Bishop, or it be Morgan Wallen, you know, if you're from the city. You get that love and support. He walked on, he earned his scholarship, and now he's a premier starting tailback in the SEC. I have huge, huge respect for Bishop. I went and introduced myself to him, and he actually knew me. And again, that's because we had the same coaching staff, but I won Mr. Football once, He did it twice. So, he's just a special guy, and he is definitely paving the way for future Knox-civilians to be able to tote the rock for the Tennessee Volunteers down the road.”

Young believes the Tennessee Vols are getting back to the 90s with their run by committee type of rushing attack.

“I think we're getting back to the 90s where we have three guys or four guys that can get the job done. If you go down the line, you can see that we've always had the Travis Henry, Travis Stephens, Jamal Lewis, I mean, it goes on and on, and we are getting back to that era of having three or four guys that can get the job done. “

The former Vols player believes that the Vols have done a great job being able to attack with both the rushing and passing game.

“I mean, that's just a huge, huge confidence booster because you can't be one-dimensional in the SEC, you know, in any conference for that matter. But definitely going against Georgia, Bama, Florida, Carolina. You gotta be able to run and pass.”

Then the Vols player would leave off with what he believes will be the key to victory against the Kentucky Wildcats if the Vols walk out with a win.

“You know, just doing the little things right, catching the ball, protecting the ball, being on the same page, winning all three phases, offense, defense, special teams. Kentucky's a good program, and they tend to show up. I definitely feel like we're a strong program and we can get the win as long as we show up, take care of the ball, and run the scoreboard like we've been doing all year. I definitely think we'll walk away with the win.”