Tennessee football Smokey points: Top 5 Vols who performed vs. Georgia Tech

Tennessee football had some standout players in its 42-41 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Here are the five best Volunteers performers.

There are plenty of players we could blame for struggling in Tennessee football’s opener. But quite a few Vols deserve credit for helping their team grind out a victory.

And it’s time to recognize them with our first round of Smokey Points this season. This game featured quite a few new faces to put on the list.

Joshua Dobbs, Josh Malone, Alvin Kamara and Derek Barnett are all gone. But with Dobbs in attendance, some of his former teammates finally took advantage of their opportunity.

In fact, of the five winners in this post, four were first-timers. When the chips were down, they didn’t flinch. And they willed the Vols to this comeback victory.

Whether or not these guys become go-to players for the entire Tennessee football season remains to be seen. But many of them did generate preseason hype, and they certainly lived up to it in the opener.

To be fair, there are still things to worry about on this team, and Butch Jones has a lot of work to do. Some players massively underachieved in their opener. But quite a few made the plays when they mattered. As a result, it’s time to give them some love.

So let’s get started with our first list of top performers for the Vols’ 2017 season. These are the five winners of our Smokey Points in Week One after Tennessee football’s incredible victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.