Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top five Vols in 28-10 Vanderbilt win

This is a great story. Kurrott Garland entered the transfer portal at the beginning of the year and then returned to the team. However, even with the departures of Alexis Johnson, Shy Tuttle and Kyle Phillips along with the injury to Emmit Gooden, he was buried in the depth chart up front. A rough start for the unit still did not help him move up.

But the 6’3″ 304-pound redshirt freshman was the one defensive lineman who showed up consistently for Tennessee football on Saturday. He continued to get a push, clearing the way for the edge rushers to get three sacks and hurry the quarterback all night. And while the defense struggled as a whole, he was a guy who consistently made plays.

Garland finished the game with three tackles, two of which were solo and one of which was for a loss. Given the fact that Greg Emerson, Darel Middleton and Aubrey Solomon had all made headlines at times this year, it was great for Garland to be able to come through and stand out in a game. He earned it.

Could this mean something going forward when it comes to the future of their program? It just might. Garland looked like another freshman who could end up being a reliable playmaker, and although it was against the Vanderbilt Commodores, it was enough to put him on this list.