Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top 5 Vols performers in loss to Missouri

This is the one most about heart. Bryce Thompson got rocked pretty good in Tennessee football’s win over the Kentucky Wildcats. But he came back and started this game and got rocked again on a play. Right after that, he got beat on a big play by Mizzou.

However, he was playing his heart out all day. The freshman showed more toughness in this game than he had in previous games. He almost intercepted one pass, and he was doing his best to make whatever plays he could. The stat line didn’t show it, but Thompson wasn’t letting Drew Lock always throw his way. He continued to show his potential.

Most notably, Thompson had a kickoff return that went for 35 yards and should have put the Vols in range to score at the end of the half before Keller Chryst threw an interception to set up a touchdown the other way. However, Thompson did his part there.

Thompson also had two tackles on the day and broke up a pass. So despite taking some hits, he found ways to be effective and played tough when he could. In such an embarrassing blowout loss, that’s one positive we could take away from this.