Tennessee football week 4 stock report: Veteran Vols should step up

Stock up

Kickers

This is a rare one, but Brent Cimaglia and Joe Doyle both played well on Saturday. Cimaglia has yet to miss an extra point or a field goal this year. Now, since he’s only kicked four field goals, that’s not saying much. However, he did nail one from beyond 40 yards over the weekend, which already puts him ahead of Aaron Medley’s career.

Doyle, meanwhile, is getting his average up, as he hit 44 yards a punt on Saturday and nailed one inside the 20. But, on a good note, none went for a touchback. And he was out of his rhythm anyway after never punting the first half. Even Paxton Brooks was solid on kickoffs, usually getting it deep and nailing a perfect onside kick that the hands team just didn’t execute. Overall, you couldn’t ask for much more out of the kickers.

Running Backs

You could make a debate about this one on Saturday after the abysmal averages. But that was hardly the fault of the running backs. There were hardly any running lanes for them to go through all day, and the offense had clearly not prepared for the return of CeCe Jefferson.

Still, Madre London managed to average over six yards a carry and get a touchdown. Even if that was helped by a  43-yard gain, it still counts. Jeremy Banks also got it in for a touchdown. So the power backs were actually making an impact in the second half, it was just too late due to all the turnovers. But this is a decent thing to look at for Tennessee football.