Linebackers
Nathanael: A+
I don’t know that Tennessee’s linebacking unit could’ve played much better than they did in this game. Daniel Bituli was a monster, putting together the best game of his career and making a huge impact both on defense and special teams. He amassed 15 tackles, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry, a pass breakup, a blocked punt, and a touchdown after recovering that blocked kick. Simply put, he was astounding. Darrell Taylor was highly impressive, too, getting two sacks and two tackles for loss. Kivon Bennett had arguably his best game as a Vol as well, totaling three quarterback hurries. He was constantly harassing Ryan Hilinski along with Taylor. Deandre Johnson even got a sack late in the game.
Ben: A
Daniel Bituli and Darrell Taylor were tremendous on Saturday. Bituli had a career day and is the favorite to win SEC Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 15 tackles, a blocked punt, a touchdown, a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hurry, and a pass breakup. As for Taylor, he recorded two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Taylor lived in the backfield, as did fellow outside linebacker Kivon Bennett, who had three quarterback hurries. Even Deandre Johnson recorded a sack, a tackle for a loss, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry.
Henry To’o To’o was also all over the place, recording eight tackles.
