Tennessee football Smokey points: Top five Vols in 17-13 Kentucky win

Jarrett Guarantano is the feel-good story for Tennessee football once again, as he overcome a lot to win Saturday night. However, he was not the player of the game. There is no way the Vols can deny who their top player was, and a strong case can be made that this guy is the best player on the team in general.

Daniel Bituli’s absence was a huge part of UT losing its first two games. His return is a huge part of this team’s turnaround as well. So on Saturday, he had his best performance of the year and proved his status as the leader of the defense. For the game, Bituli had 10 solo tackles and 19 overall. He assisted in a tackle for a loss, but the key was him being in on every play.

And then Bituli made the two key plays of the game. With the Vols up 17-13 late and having just surrendered more yards due to a substitution penalty, Kentucky had the ball 3rd and goal inside the five. Bituli and Henry To’o To’o got the stop together on the first play. Then, on the second play, Bituli got the fourth down stop by himself to secure the win for the Vols.

Simply put, Bituli was the star and the key playmaker for Tennessee football. He helped the Vols overcome numerous odds to win the game, and he was the reason behind the defense tightening up after such a rough start. For that, he is the top player on our list and easily the player of the game in UT’s win over Kentucky.