Tennessee football: Top five performers in Vols 34-7 loss to Kentucky
Senior. player. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Running back. Ty Chandler. 3
12 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch, 4 yards
Once again, Ty Chandler proved himself to be the workhorse back for Tennessee football. Thanks to great blocking by the interior line, and Trey Smith deserves a shoutout for that one, Chandler is responsible for the Vols’ only score of the game. He did a heck of a job when he had the ball running between the tackles and running hard.
After Kentucky built a 17-0 lead, Chandler was one of two players to gain all the yards on a 75-yard scoring drive by the Vols. One of those yards, by the way, was a fourth down gain in which he should have been stopped. It was 4th and 1 from the UT 35-yard line. Chandler was hit before he reached the first down marker, but he fell forward for the score.
Before that, Chandler had gained four yards on a 3rd and 5 to bring up that 4th and 1, so he was willing to be physical and make the key plays for the Vols all game. It’s a bit misleading when you see that he averaged under five yards a carry when two of his carries that didn’t go five yards were a fourth down conversion and a touchdown run.
Chandler had the only first down for the Vols in the second half before they fell behind 34-7 as well. It was a 10-yard run. Simply put, he was one of the most valuable players on Rocky Top. He did run into Jarrett Guarantano on the Vols’ first turnover of the game, but that was on Guarantano for going rogue without Chandler knowing what he was about to do. So we don’t blame him there.