Tennessee football: Five biggest storylines of Vols 2019 season

3. Freshmen have a major impact.

Still in the process of rebuilding Tennessee football, Jeremy Pruitt had to rely on lots of of young talent this year. It became even more evident that would be the case due to some of the injuries that plagued the Vols to start the year.

Standing out was Henry To’o To’o. Pruitt plugged him in at inside linebacker the first game due to Daniel Bituli being hurt. To’o To’o wasn’t ready, and that resulted in the Georgia State Panthers torching the Vols. However, he developed, and after finishing the year with 72 tackles and five tackles for a loss, he earned Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC honors.

On the offensive line, which was historically bad last year, the Vols found a rotation with two freshmen, Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright, at the tackle spots. Both emerged in a big way and helped sparked the dramatic improvement up front, as they each earned Freshman All-SEC honors while Morris became a Freshman All-American.

Then there’s Eric Gray. Playing behind Ty Chandler, Gray came on late. His breakout game was against the Vanderbilt Commodores, where he set a school record for rushing yards in a game by a freshman with 246 on 25 carries and also had three touchdowns. Gray then had over 100 total yards in the Gator Bowl win, scored the go-ahead touchdown and recovered the onside kick.

So Gray is a rising star at running back now. Morris, Wright and To’o To’o proved they are the future. Redshirt freshman Greg Emerson, by the way, was a major force up front. Ramel Keyton had a couple of big catches in two wins. And Warren Burrell saw action in the secondary, starting twice. These guys have a great future.