Tennessee football: Top five Vols performers in 34-13 loss to Aggies

5 tackles (4 solo); 1 TFL; 1 INT

In recent weeks, Alontae Taylor has been emerging as Tennessee football’s best all-around defensive back. He put that on display in a big way Saturday against the Texas A&M Aggies, which is why he’s the player of the game.

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Taylor did his part to try to keep the Vols in the game. With A&M driving in the second quarter up 24-13, they were about to go in for the kill in the red zone. However, Taylor picked off a pass from Kellen Mond and returned it the other way to near midfield. UT’s offense did not capitalize, but there’s no way that could be blamed on him.

In addition to that pick, Taylor came away with a crucial tackle for a loss, proving he could still play physical. He was the only defensive player to make two big, positive plays on the day, and that’s enough for us to make him player of the game, even if the pass defense struggled overall.

Bryce Thompson is still probably the best defensive back, and Theo Jackson actually made some nice plays Saturday as well. However, Taylor was the star, and you have to wonder why he didn’t play more throughout the season when he was able to go. People who started in his place often times struggled severely.

There’s a legitimate argument that Taylor having to miss so much time this year is what cost Tennessee football’s pass defense so much. We’ll likely know if that’s the case next year, assuming all this goes away. But in the Vols’ final home game of 2020, he did his part.