Tennessee football: Five Vols to watch for against South Carolina Gamecocks

Right now, the South Carolina Gamecocks are tied with Tennessee football as two programs outside of the top 90 in fewest sacks allowed per game. And when it comes to the Gamecocks’ offense, they allow sacks from everywhere. So who better to exploit that than the sack machine himself, Darrell Taylor?

Against the Mississippi State Bulldogs two Saturdays ago, Taylor came alive and had two sacks. That was a crucial part of the reason the Vols won that game, and it could be a sign of bigger things going forward. Remember, he came on strong late last year, and he’s doing the same again this year. Saturday is begging for him to have an explosive performance.

For the year, Taylor does lead the team in sacks already with three, and he also has four tackles for a loss. With a forced fumble and fumble recovery, separately we may add, he is continuing to show he can make big plays. But the problem is they keep coming in bunches in a few games.

Well, this is the perfect game for it to come in bunches. Ryan Hilinski is still a true freshman, and despite his solid frame at 6’3″ 230 pounds, Taylor is the perfect player to consistently be in his face. He needs to be as effective as possible, and he should be taking his anger out on the SEC officials for that horrible unnecessary roughness penalty he received last week.