Tennessee football: Brandon Turnage earns SEC award, but Alontae Taylor deserved it

It was truly a great storyline. Alabama Crimson Tide transfer Brandon Turnage had been buried in the Tennessee football depth chart, but on Saturday, with Theo Jackson hurt, he got his chance to start at nickel against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Turnage didn’t disappoint, as he finished the game with with 14 total tackles, seven of which were solo, and two tackles for a loss en route to UT’s 45-20 win. The 6’1″ 186-pound redshirt sophomore’s play earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Week, and everybody should be happy for him over that.

However, that award should have gone to another Tennessee football player. With all due respect to Turnage, who put together an amazing performance, UT cornerback Alontae Taylor was the one who actually deserved that award.

Look, Turnage racked up the stats, and he definitely deserves an outstanding effort award of some sort. However, Taylor was the best defensive player on the field, and it really wasn’t even close. He has a case for the player of the game.

Taylor shut down his side of the field, coming away with three pass deflections. According to Rocky Top Insider, he also had a PFF grade of 80.1, the highest on either side of the ball for players who played at least 21 snaps.

Nobody had a more difficult task. Although South Carolina’s offense is an issue, it has one elite weapon on offense: Josh Vann. Heading into the game, Vann had 16 catches for 332 yards and three touchdowns along with three carries for 62 yards. He was averaging just under 79 yards from scrimmage and just under 69 yards receiving a game.

On Saturday, he had just three catches for 12 yards. Tim Banks left Taylor in one-on-one coverage with Vann all day, and Taylor shut him down. Luke Doty didn’t even look his way most of the time. Vann’s best play was a six-yard pass he completed on a trick play.

Simply put, Taylor shut him down. Everybody else benefitted. Jaylen McCollough got an interception in the game. Warren Burrell also graded high on the PFF scale. Turnage was able to rack up stats at nickel. However, that was all because Taylor was guarding the one elite weapon South Carolina had.

Banks rightly understood that if Taylor could take Vann out of the game, it would neutralize South Carolina’s offense. Although they ran the ball well in the second half, Taylor’s play truly did neutralize the passing offense at the very least.

As a result, Taylor should have been the one to win SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He probably would have, to be fair, if he hadn’t dropped his final pass deflection. That came in the second half, and if he held on, he would have had a pick-six.

Even without that interception, though, it’s impossible to deny that Taylor was Tennessee football’s best defensive player Saturday. Turnage’s story is great, and UT will need him going forward. They could be great together. Last weekend, though, Taylor was the biggest star. There’s a reason he’s the leader of the unit.