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Tennessee football: 10 best 2018 single game performances by returning Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Darrell Taylor #19 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets a strip sack from Terry Wilson #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Darrell Taylor #19 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets a strip sack from Terry Wilson #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football has lots of returning talent in 2019. Here is a look at the best single-game performances from 2018 by returning Volunteers.

Despite going 5-7 in 2018, Tennessee football had a lot of notable individual performances throughout the season. It was a transition year under Jeremy Pruitt, as he tried to install the pro-style offense and the 3-4 defense.

However, some players thrived in the Vols’ new schemes, and others were able to show glimpses of what they would become with a little more time in the system. Those glimpses give the program hope for 2019 and beyond.

Sometimes, those players stepped up enough to help Tennessee football to a couple of big wins. Pruitt did score some shocking upsets. And that really bodes well for the program’s future if they can just get a bit more consistent.

But which players were they, and what did they show? If we’re being honest, the anchor behind the Vols’ upset wins was the defensive line, and they have lost all three starters there from last year in Kyle Phillips, Alexis Johnson and Shy Tuttle.

Plenty of other young playmakers emerged at different times, though, and this post is about looking at them. Here, we’re going to analyze the 10 best individual game-performances by returning Vols.

These players give the 2019 team a ton of hope given what they showed last year. We’ll base this off of their stat line and the level of competition they went against. As you’ll see, the only issue going forward will be if some of these guys can replicate these performances on a regular basis.

So who stood out in specific moments in 2018? And which of those players are back in 2019? With that process of elimination, we can go a little bit further in determining the future of the Vols. Here is our ranking of the 10 best 2018 single-game performances by Tennessee football players who are returning for this year.

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