13 carries, 88 yards, 1 TD
There are tons of offensive skill players we need to name before getting to why Jaylen Wright takes the cake for Tennessee football. In the passing game, Cedric Tillman led in receiving with six catches for 68 yards. Jimmy Holiday had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown, which was a 53-yard strike from Joe Milton III.
Walker Merrill and Jalin Hyatt each had two catches for over 20 yards and a score. Ramel Keyton had four catches for 57 yards. Bru McCoy had a nice coming-out party with three catches for 42 yards, and Squirrel White also had three catches, gaining 25 yards.
On the ground, Dylan Sampson had 10 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown in his first game. Jabari Small had 13 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. They had a 19-yard and 12-yard catch respectively. However, among all these players, Wright gets the nod here. Again, they all could have been named, but Wright just turned out to be the top producer.
With 13 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown, Wright stands out. Yes, he did have a first-half fumble recovered by his own offensive line, but he also had a key fourth down conversion where he stretched forward to get it. As a result, in a game loaded with offensive skill players stepping up, Wright is named the best of the bunch from the opener.