Tennessee football at South Carolina: 5 Vols to watch for vs. Gamecocks

Jake Bentley has been mistake prone throughout the year, and many of those mistakes have been created by members of the secondary. The most consistent key guy back there has been Nigel Warrior. However, he doesn’t have the hands to come down with interceptions.

Warrior is more of a physical guy who plays in the right spots, and one of the keys to forcing South Carolina mistakes is having the safety make plays. Although he can’t come down with the ball a lot, Warrior is more than capable of making the right plays.

As a result, Tennessee football will need to use him as much as possible. With all the issues at safety, including Trevon Flowers being hurt, Micah Abernathy being day to day and Todd Kelly Jr. slowly getting back to his old self, Warrior is the one guy Jeremy Pruitt can rely on to be effective.

He’s the anchor of the secondary at this point, and that’s a huge deal. Now that he’s not having to face that elite Alabama Crimson Tide passing offense, he can help the unit play much better. It’s also come full circle, as Warrior’s first bit of real action was in 2016 against S.C. This is his chance to make up for a game then that had a series of mistakes.