Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 52-49 win vs. Alabama

2. Passing attack was still incredible without Cedric Tillman.

Don’t get it twisted. In spite of what’s happened the past three weeks, Cedric Tillman is still easily Tennessee football’s best receiver. The Vols are just that deep in the passing attack with Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton, Princeton Fant, Jacob Warren and Hendon Hooker throwing them the ball.

However, the obvious star in this one was Jalin Hyatt, who had an incredible six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns. Hyatt was snuck out in the slot all the time and made big play after big play. Part of that was amazing play-calling by Heupel, but Hyatt still had to executed, and he did that to perfection.

Still, don’t let Hyatt’s performance overshadow what other receivers did. Keyton was there on so many clutch plays and caught five passes for 78 yards. McCoy only caught two passes for 38 yards, but he had the reception to set up the Vols’ game-winning field goal.

Hooker completed 21 of 30 passes overall for 385 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. Fant had three catches for 24 yards, and Warren had two catches for 13 yards. There were a couple of overthrows, and a couple of receivers didn’t make the right play, but by and large, the passing game was incredible and every bit as good as Alabama’s.