Tennessee football ended its losing streak against Florida in impressive fashion with a 38-28 win. Here are the five Volunteers who earned helmet stickers.
How do you narrow it down to just five? Tennessee football was loaded with elite performers all over the field in the Vols’ memorable victory over the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium Saturday.
They didn’t just win the talent battle.
They somehow won the psychological battle against a team that owned them, and they also won the coaching battle in the second half. It was Florida, not Tennessee, who panicked down the stretch, and plenty of Vols players kept their heads cool.
More from Vols Football
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
Now, before we hand out our Smokey Points and acknowledge the top performers from the game, it’s worth calling out a few guys who struggled early.
Justin Martin, Jason Croom, Ethan Wolf, and Joshua Dobbs all made crucial mistakes in the first half that caused this team to fall behind 21-0. But they all redeemed themselves afterward.
Bob Shoop and Mike DeBord did the same thing, and Butch Jones showed just how great he is by keeping his team poised.
And because everybody came together in the second half, we could hand out 10 helmet stickers in this game. But as always, we only hand out five. So before we do so, let’s give a quick shoutout to Todd Kelly Jr. and Josh Malone. Both of these guys played well enough to warrant a helmet sticker.
But they didn’t make our top five. Kelly had a couple of first-half mistakes, while Malone had a first-half drop. That’s the only thing keeping both out.
Now, let’s go to the five Tennessee football players who did earn Smokey Points.