Special Teams
Daniel: Not a ton to evaluate here. There wasn’t anything spectacular, but the Vols were pretty good all night in this phase – not allowing any big plays that let Iowa back in it. Todd Kelly showed sure hands on three onside kick recoveries to keep it from getting too interesting late and Aaron Medley connected on all of his extra points and his lone field goal attempt. Matt Darr didn’t have his best night in terms of average and there wasn’t a ton of room in the return game, but none of that was really needed. Grade: B
Houston: Matt Darr punted four times for a 37.2 yard average, Aaron Medley went 1-for-1 on field goals and did extremely well on kickoffs, and Todd Kelly Jr. may have set the record for onside kick recoveries with 3 in this game. Tennessee’s coverage units were exceptional and the Vols nearly earned a special teams turnover when Iowa’s Jonathan Parker had a mental lapse on a perfectly placed Aaron Medley kickoff against the sidelines. No game-breaking plays earned, but also none given up. It was a solid day for this group. Grade A
Reed: The Vols successfully defended three on-sie kicks, bottled Iowa up on returns and made their lone field goal attempt. Tennessee, more often than not, won the special teams game this season. Let that sink in, folks. Grade: A
Average Grade: A-
