For a while now, Tennessee Volunteers fans have been urging Josh Heupel to find a way to get 5-star freshman Mike Matthews more involved. He arrived in Knoxville as one of the top wideouts in the country, but he's yet to get into a rhythm.
Despite not making too many plays catching the ball this season, Matthews is finding other ways to make an impact for this team. Think he's not willing to put his hard hat on and get to work blocking? Not a chance.
In the win over Kentucky last Saturday night, a clip of Matthews totally bodying a Wildcats' defensive back went viral. Matthews straight up dominated the Kentucky player, and leveled him to the turf. ESPN saw this play and decided to show him love for it and rightfully so.
Tennessee freshman WR Mike Matthews was the first player featured when Jeff Saturday and the @GetUpESPN crew handed out pancakes this morning. pic.twitter.com/RKFSLfo3vM
— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) November 5, 2024
Mike Matthews posted an epic block for the Tennesse Vols vs. Kentucky
On GetUpESPN, legendary NFL player Jeff Saturday started things off by showcasing the Matthews block for the rest of the world to see. We're glad he did, as this simply was an unreal play from the true freshman in a rivalry game.
We really hope Heupel and his staff show this to the rest of the team several times to remind them the kind of impact quality blocking like this can make for an offense. As we mentioned above, Matthews hasn't quite found his footing yet with the aerial attack, but that's not stopping him from giving his all when on the field.
Matthews could be pouting on the sidelines because he's not getting many targets, but instead he's still playing with a ton of passion and fire. Vols fans absolutely have to love this mentality from him. There's no doubt Matthews is going to make a big impact catching the pigskin down the road. For now, though, he's more than happy to do the dirty work to help out his teammates. Boom.