Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top 5 Vols performers at South Carolina

The South Carolina Gamecocks sold out to stop Tennessee football’s deep ball on Saturday. As a result, the Vols went to the crossing route and to the screen. Jauan Jennings had the biggest crossing route play with a touchdown to put UT up 14-3.

However, Marquez Callaway was the most consistent playmaker in this area. To be fair, while Jennings is a gamer, we know that Callaway is the best receiver with the ball in his hands. And he once again showed that Saturday night.

Callaway finished the game with nine receptions for 86 yards. Against a South Carolina team dominant on third down all year, he was a third down conversion machine for the Vols. Considering the game-plan Will Muschamp had, it made sense for the Vols to go to Callaway as much as possible.

However, at the same time, Callaway had to deliver. With Josh Palmer having an off-day, that put even more pressure on him. And he came through as much as he possibly could. There is no way we can pin this loss on him.

Callaway being the key playmaker for the Vols has been a long time coming as well. He was supposed to be the top receiver last year after Jennings went down but was grossly misused. So one positive was seeing him get so many touches.