Tennessee’s win over Alabama on Saturday was defined by a defense that refused to budge and a kicker who kept cashing in points. That combination gave the Vols a 26-10 rivalry victory and earned a pair of SEC weekly awards.
Defensive end Tyree Weathersby led the way on the edge. He piled up two sacks for a loss of 17 yards, added 2.5 tackles for loss, finished with four total tackles and also recovered a fumble. That performance landed him the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honor.
Weathersby’s season production keeps climbing, too. He now has 6.5 sacks overall, including 5.5 against SEC opponents over the last four games. That total ranks second in the conference in SEC games.
Special teams also delivered for Tennessee through Cooper Ranvier. The kicker went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals in the first half and added two extra points after the break, all while dealing with windy conditions. For that showing, he was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
“(Cooper Ranvier) did an unbelievable job,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said after the game. “Probably as windy of a day as we’ve had inside that stadium since I’ve been here.
Put everything right through the uprights. And that was a huge part of the game early.
You kick field goals like that, typically, it comes back to bite you in the butt, though, too. And we were able to, in some ways, get away with that because of an elite defensive performance.”
Tennessee now turns the page to South Carolina, with a road trip set for Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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