Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top 5 Vols performers at Vanderbilt

As you can see with our Smokey Points, Tennessee football had no trouble when it came to generating pressure or stopping the run. The Vols were getting lots of tackles for losses, and their usual stars were stepping up to make big plays.

One of those usual stars was Darrell Taylor. Nobody thrived more in their switch under Jeremy Pruitt’s new scheme this year than Taylor, and he came through for the Vols at outside linebacker once again Saturday. Like he did against the Georgia Bulldogs and Kentucky Wildcats, he took advantage of times he was unblocked and times other people got pushes to free him up.

Taylor finished the game with six tackles, and all of them were solo tackles. That would be impressive enough, but he also had three tackles for a loss and a sack. Simply put, like Alexis Johnson and Kyle Phillips, he was making plays.

This trio has been a playmaking trio for the Vols all year, while Shy Tuttle did the legwork of getting the necessary pushes. Taylor, however, is the only guy who could be back next year, so he’s a very bright spot for the Vols. And him being on this list again does bode well for the future as he gets set for his senior season.