Tennessee sophomore cornerback Jermod McCoy was named the Thorpe Award National Defensive Back of the Week on Tuesday after his shutdown performance against Oklahoma’s offense on Saturday night in Norman.
McCoy recorded three tackles, one pass breakup, and one key interception against the Sooners’ offense. McCoy’s interception on Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold was key to throwing the Sooners’ quarterback off his game early in the contest, leading to a benching before halftime. Tennessee was able to find points offensively off of McCoy’s turnover.
McCoy earned Tennessee’s third-highest defensive rating from Pro Football Focus during the Oklahoma game with an 80.8 grade on 72 snaps. McCoy only trailed Tennessee EDGE Joshua Josephs (94.3 on 30 plays) and DT Elijah Simmons (82.0 on 25 plays) in the Vols’ defensive grades.
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Jermod McCoy has been a stout starting cornerback for the Vols after transferring in from Oregon State this offseason. McCoy has been on the plus side of 70 in each of his first four PFF game grades with 71.8 against Chattanooga, 76.7 against NC State, and 74.6 against Kent State.
Through four games this season, McCoy has tallied eight tackles, seven solo tackles, one interception, and four pass breakups. The Vols’ sophomore cornerback has also taken two punt returns for 23 yards this season.
Tennessee has an open date this weekend but will return to SEC competition on the road afterward when they travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on October 5.
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