Tennessee football’s top five performers in Vols’ 60-14 win vs. South Alabama

There was no letdown for Tennessee football. The Vols hit the 60-point threshold for the second time this year and had a complete performance as they dominated the South Alabama Jaguars 60-14 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. Saturday night to clinch bowl eligibility Josh Heupel’s first year on the job.

When you win like that, it’s safe to say everybody look good. As a result, helmet stickers for this game were hard to give out because it was hard to leave players off of this list. Big plays and overall dominance are both taken into account.

Surprisingly, an unsung hero on offense made it on here, as he had an underrated role in helping this historic performance. We’ll get to him eventually. These are Tennessee football’s top five performers from their blowout win over South Alabama to move to 6-5 on the year ahead of their regular season finale at home against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

2 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 safety, 3 tackles (1 solo)

This final spot came down to Kurott Garland and Trevon Flowers. Both are on here because of a huge play. Flowers’ play was more crucial, as it was a sack on a 4th and goal in the second quarter with UT clinging to 14-0 lead. It helped break the game open. However, the secondary also allowed 216 yards through the air, so the unit as a whole didn’t perform elite.

On the other hand, the pass rush was amazing all night, and Garland was part of that. He assisted on two tackles for a loss, and then, late in the game, he helped put icing on the cake as Rocky Top was already dominating with a 56-14 lead..

In the fourth quart, Garland sacked Desmond Trotter in the end zone for a safety. It was one of two safeties to end the game, but the other one was off a bad snap. It was a huge deal for Tennessee football that Garland was able to help keep pressure on South Alabama all night, and he’s a huge reason they averaged less than two yards rushing. That safety was the exclamation point.