Vols sophomore wide receiver Ramel Keyton will not play for the remainder of the season, head coach Jeremy Pruitt announced following Tennessee’s 31-19 loss to No. Florida on Saturday.
“Ramel is not going to finish the year playing football,” Pruitt told reporters over Zoom. “He’s going to continue to focus on academics. That will be a great opportunity for him.”
Keyton made his first career start to begin the season against South Carolina. He tied a career-high two catches for 20 yards in the win over the Gamecocks. Since, Keyton has only caught seven passes for 56 yards and played sparingly.
The Marietta, Georgia native had played in all seven games prior to Saturday’s game against Florida. Keyton had caught a pass in six of the seven games has appeared in, making a catch in five straight games heading into the game against the Gators.
Keyton made four catches for 104 yards a season ago as a true freshman. The 6-foot-3 receiver made his first career catch against Mississippi State for a gain of 41 yards. Aside from a catch for three yards against Kentucky, Keyton didn’t catch another pass until the bowl game against Indiana. He caught two passes for 60 yards against the Hoosiers.
Keyton signed with Tennessee as a four-star prospect and top-15 player in the state of Georgia out of Marietta High School. He finished with 184 receptions for over 3,000 yards and 34 touchdowns in his prep career. Keyton was an Army All-American.
Tennessee will look to snap its six-game losing streak next Saturday against Vanderbilt. The SEC has not announced what time the game will kickoff in Nashville.
