5 catches for 166 yards, 2 TDs
Last week, Cedric Tillman was the biggest reason Hendon Hooker delivered. However, he went down early in this game, and Bru McCoy kept getting called for ticky tack offensive pass interference penalties for playing aggressive on the other side. That meant Tennessee football would have to turn to the slot.
Jalin Hyatt’s hype has been two years in the making, and in this game, he finally had his breakout performance. Hyatt’s 166 receiving yards speak for themselves, but both of his touchdowns were impressive. One was a 57-yard touchdown score, and it was the one we said Hooker threw a bit behind him, so he stopped, caught it and still ran in easily.
On the other touchdown pass, Hyatt just caught it over the middle and managed to outrun everybody. These two scores put the Vols up 21-0 and 35-0 respectively after the extra points, and although it came against Akron, they really showed just how electric Hyatt can be.
Other slot receivers had solid outings too, as Squirrel White had a 47-yard grab and a nice punt return, and Jimmy Calloway had two catches before being ejected late. Princeton Fant and Jacob Warren also both had key catches. However, as he should have been, Hyatt was Tennessee football’s star without Tillman, and as a result, he’s the player of the game.