Tennessee football: Five takeaways from 34-13 loss to Aggies

4. New faces emerged in the receiving game.

Despite being the best receiver on the year, Josh Palmer continued his streak of making one or two big mistakes a game, either by committing a penalty, dropping a pass or not fighting for a 50-50 ball. He had both a critical penalty and a critical drop in this one despite three catches for 55 yards.

With him being a senior, Tennessee football found some new faces at receiver on Saturday. Cedric Tillman, who has been a rotational player buried in the depth chart for two years, had the catch of the year. He dove out for a 46-yard bomb from J.T. Shrout to score a touchdown in the second quarter, and he did it with a defender all over him.

Meanwhile, Jacob Warren emerged at tight end. Harrison Bailey found Warren wide open on the Vols’ opening drive for a 33-yard touchdown. He could be the player of the future at that position. With only 40 receiving yards on the year coming into the game this was by far his most productive day, and you have to question why Jim Chaney didn’t use him more.

Speaking of tight ends, multiple weapons emerged there. Princeton Fant, who has been a standout player in recent weeks anyway, did have another two receptions for 18 yards. This is one positive takeaway from a bitter ending to a bad season for the Vols.