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Tennessee football: Top 10 Vols big game performers in school history

By Caleb Calhoun

5 Dec 1998: Linebacker Al Wilson #27 of the Tennessse Volunteers stands on a ladder during the SEC Championships against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Georgia Dome in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee defeated Mississippi St. 24-14.
5 Dec 1998: Linebacker Al Wilson #27 of the Tennessse Volunteers stands on a ladder during the SEC Championships against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Georgia Dome in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee defeated Mississippi St. 24-14. /
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Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images /

The only player on this list to not win an SEC or national championship, Derek Barnett had to labor under a Butch Jones system for three years. But in the process, he did everything he could to help Tennessee football to victory.

Barnett is known for being the all-time sacks leader in UT history, breaking Reggie White’s number in just three years. He also is already an NFL star, winning the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles and recovering the game-clinching fumble as a rookie.

But anybody who saw him in college knew that he always saved his top performances for the biggest games. While Myles Garrett racked up all the major stats through three years, he just padded his sheet against mediocre opponents. Barnett was a different story.

Of his 33 career sacks, 29 came in SEC games. Among the other five, two came in bowl games and another came against a ranked opponent, the Oklahoma Sooners in 2015. So only one of Barnett’s 33 sacks came against an unranked opponent that was not a conference opponent: 2015 against North Texas.

In fact, he registered 14 sacks in 14 games against ranked teams throughout his career. And, as we mentioned, he picked up two in bowl games. Against Tennessee football’s three big rivalries, the Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide, Barnett registered eight sacks in nine games.

Simply put, Barnett showed up when it mattered most. In addition to just those numbers, he also did huge things like pick up two sacks in the comeback against Florida and Georgia in 2016 in addition to a forced fumbler recovered for a touchdown against the Dawgs to give the Vols the lead in the fourth. He simply always came through in big games, so winning no championship was not his fault. And that’s why he’s on this list.

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