Tennessee football stock report after Week 5: Vols front seven rising

Stock up

Tennessee’s starting front seven

You could really make this about Darrell Taylor. He was the star with three sacks and two of those forced fumbles. But while Taylor was the breakout player, it was the collective unit of the starters in the front seven that made the difference for Tennessee football and kept them in the game early. So they all deserve credit.

After all, Alexis Johnson helped Taylor by getting a major push on the line. Kyle Phillips on the outside was in on numerous plays. At linebacker, Daniel Bituli led the team in tackles. Will Ignont had a tackle for a loss. And Quart’e Sapp even came in and had an impact after the drama this past week. Coming off a game in which they set the tone early with some major plays against the Florida Gators before fading, the front seven even further realized its potential this past week. So it’s stock is up and rising.

Kicking

This remains a theme from last week. Now, Brent Cimaglia wasn’t able to offer his services to the Vols in this game. That’s because they were never in field goal range until the fourth quarter, when they were already down, and Jeremy Pruitt went for two on both touchdowns.

However, the other kickers got even better. Paxton Brooks had three kickoffs, two of which were touchbacks and one of which was fair-caught and taken to the 25. Then there was walk-on punter Joe Doyle, who continues to get better. He averaged over 47 yards a punt and nailed two punts inside the 20. He would’ve nailed another were it not for an illegal formation penalty. This unit’s stock was rising last week, and even without Cimaglia’s help, it only got better. So it’s becoming a huge strength.