Tennessee football: Top five performers in 35-12 win vs. Missouri
16 carries for 105 yards, 1 catch for 13 yards, 2 total touchdowns
Last week, Ty Chandler made our list of top performers. Chandler still went for over 100 total yards from scrimmage and deserves a shoutout for being the workhorse in this game. We almost put him on here in Deandre Johnson’s spot. However, he was not the standout back, and lots of his success was attributable to the offensive line, which we’ll get to.
Even with that offensive line help, though, Eric Gray was elite in his own right. Gray had an amazing cut on his first touchdown, a 20-yard run that put Tennessee football up 14-0 in the first quarter. He then took a third down screen pass and ran it 13 yards into the end zone on his second touchdown, which put the Vols up 21-6 heading into halftime.
Gray had numerous incredible cuts in open space, which allowed him to average over six and a half yards a carry, and he now has three touchdowns on the season. The 5’10” 205-pound all-purpose back has picked up right where he left off at the end of his freshman season, when he burst onto the scene against the Vanderbilt Commodores and then the Indiana Hoosiers.
The rushing attack overall was dominant, but Gray had multiple 20-yard runs and multiple touchdowns in different ways, proving that he continues to be a deadly weapon for Rocky Top. While he and Chandler both had over 100 yards from scrimmage, he was the star in this one.