Tennessee football owes it to Cedric Tillman to shut down Kayshon Boutte

There’s a cruel twist to Saturday’s matchup between Tennessee football and the LSU Tigers. The Vols go-to wideout, Cedric Tillman, appears to still be banged up after having surgery a couple weeks ago due to an injured ankle.

As a result, Tillman may not have the chance to get revenge on Southeastern Conference media voters for a truly awful preseason All-SEC move. Despite being the only returning 1,000-yard receiver in the league, voters relegated Tillman to second-team preseason All-SEC.

This move was done to make room for LSU receiver Kayson Boutte, who barely had over 500 yards the previous year. Through five games this year, the move looks even more ridiculous, as Tillman, despite essentially playing three fewer games than Boutte, has 150 more yards.

Boutte so far has 11 catches for 97 yards and 0 touchdowns. This is game that everybody is talking about in terms of him finally being able to make an impact. Out of respect for Tillman, Tennessee football’s defense can’t let that happen.

Of course, the dream would be for Tillman to be able to go and have over 100 yards while Boutte is held to nothing. Remember the 1998 national championship game? Peter Warrick got all the hype for the Florida State Seminoles, but he had one catch for four yards. Peerless Price had 199 yards and a touchdown.

It’s not likely Tillman pulls that off in this game, but the defense can certainly make sure Boutte doesn’t get going. Given all the signs that Brian Kelly will likely use him more in this game, it’s good strategy to also stop Boutte before he gets started.

Now, the trick is Tennessee football’s secondary woes. We saw without Warren Burrell just how bad the unit can be when they faced the Florida Gators. Now, Burrell is out for the season, so those issues may be magnified.

However, it’s not all lost. Dee Williams, the junior college transfer who practiced with the Vols in the spring before getting hurt in training camp, is finally set to make his debut. Maybe he’s the guy who can play opposite Kamal Hadden and finally help out the cornerbacks.

A dream scenario would be for that to be the case and then Tillman to be able to go. Tillman is one of the two physical wideouts, the other obviously being Bru McCoy, and together, they could make LSU pay for the amount of press man coverage it plays.

Imagine how great it would be for Rocky Top if Williams turns into a shutdown corner, helping to render Boutte useless, and Tillman is able to go and give LSU fits. Not only would that be a huge boost for the Vols as they try to win the game. It would also destroy a narrative.

It’s commonplace for Tennessee football to receive disrespect, but what happened with Tillman and Boutte in the offseason took it to another level. There was no reason to put Boutte above him, and the Vols owe it to Tillman to embarrass those voters. Boutte will just have to be the casualty.