Tennessee football season recap: Top 10 Vols from 2018 team

It’s not common to have a kicker as one of your best players. This wouldn’t always be indicative of how bad the overall team was, but that was the case here. Tennessee football just didn’t have enough elite performers on both sides of the ball.

As a result, we had to name Brent Cimaglia, who was impressive enough to warrant recognition. Vols fans were thrilled to have a guy who could finally make field goals beyond 40 yards after four years of struggle from Aaron Medley.

For the year, Cimaglia hit 10 of 13 field goals, and he went 4-of-5 on kicks beyond 40 yards. His standout game was hitting two field goals 45 yards or beyond against the Auburn Tigers, and that was the difference in the game as they won 30-24.

On top of that, Cimaglia didn’t miss an extra point on the season. Simply put, he was everything you want in a kicker. Sure, he did miss one attempt within 40 yards. But he was largely automatic, and it’s worth noting that one of his three misses was blocked.

If Jeremy Pruitt can get an offense that gets past midfield more often next year, he should be able to enjoy a kicker as an advantage who can hit field goals beyond 40 yards. Cimaglia was alread the difference in one win this year.