Tennessee football’s top five performers in 52-49 win vs. Alabama

You’d think the offensive superstars would be obvious in a 52-49 shootout win against a top five team. Tennessee football certainly had its fair share of elite talent as the Vols earned a historic victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday. However, in reality, there were just a couple of weapons racking up all the stats.

As we get set to break down those players who performed best for UT in this win, we’re going to have to take into account players who came up big in key moments in addition to the ones who racked up all the stats. Certain players stood out under the radar with elite play.

Despite their struggles early this year, Alabama is still Alabama, so some players had to put together legendary performances in this one, and that’s exactly what they did. Let’s break down who stood out and who made history. Here are the top five Vols in Tennessee football’s win over Alabama this past weekend.

These Tennessee football players were the difference makers in the Volunteers’ victory over the Crimson Tide.

5 catches, 78 yards

Obviously, another receiver on this list is going to get most of the praise, and he deserves it, but don’t let that overshadow Ramel Keyton’s performance. Part of keeping Alabama honest all day was Alex Golesh sticking to the run game and the Vols’ wideouts coming up big in one-on-one matchups, particularly on slants.

Keyton was key for that. All five of his catches mattered. One was an 11-yard catch that set up their first touchdown pass. Another was a 16-yard catch that got them in the red zone to set up their 21-7 lead. Then he caught a 31-yard pass to set up the 1st and goal on which they scored to go up 28-10.

Finally, on the last drive, Keyton had an 18-yard catch. Bru McCoy then had a 27-yard grab to set up the game-winning field goal, but Keyton was the bigger star among the wideouts for Tennessee football in this game without Cedric Tillman.