Tennessee earned its second straight commanding SEC win Saturday, jumping out to a 28-0 first quarter lead before coasting to a 45-20 win over South Carolina.
Hendon Hooker scored four touchdowns and Brandon Turnage made 14 tackles in his first Tennessee start as the Vols earned their third straight win over the Gamecocks.
If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Bowling Green grades.
Let’s see how the Vols graded out.
Elite grade = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >
Offensive Grades (minimum 21 plays — 30% of offensive snaps)
QB Hendon Hooker — 76.5 (72 plays)
WR Velus Jones Jr. — 75.8 (48 plays)
RB Tiyon Evans — 74.5 (39 plays)
LT Darnell Wright — 70.0 (66 plays)
RT Cade Mays — 64.6 (66 plays)
WR JaVonta Payton — 61.6 (66 plays)
C Jerome Carvin — 59.3 (66 plays)
WR Cedric Tillman — 59.1 (65 plays)
TE Jacob Warren — 56.2 (38 plays)
OG Ollie Lane — 53.4 (66 plays)
OG Javontez Spraggins — 51.5 (66 plays)
TE Princeton Fant — 46.9 (32 plays)
C Jackson Lampley graded out with a 90.1— the highest of any Tennessee player— in his six plays.
Jalin Hyatt found the end zone Saturday and recorded a solid 64.0 grade in his 20 plays. In his second straight game playing primarily in the slot, Velus Jones Jr. was fantastic earning the Vols’ offense second highest graded while recoding 100 yards.
It’s been an up-and-down season for Darnell Wright at left tackle but the junior played well Saturday, earning the highest grade of any Tennessee offensive lineman.
Princeton Fant ranked out as the lowest offensive player for the second time in three weeks.
Defensive Grades (minimum 22 plays — 30% of offensive snaps)
CB Alontae Taylor — 80.1 (76 plays)
DE Byron Young — 78.0 (30 plays)
FS Trevon Flowers — 70.5 (76 plays)
CB Warren Burrell — 70.4 (76 plays)
STAR Brandon Turnage — 69.1 (75 plays)
DT Omari Thomas — 67.2 (29 plays)
DT Da’Jon Terry — 66.0 (32 plays)
LB Aaron Beasley — 64.8 (66 plays)
LB Jeremy Banks — 63.2 (50 plays)
SS Jaylen McCollough — 62.7 (76 plays)
DT Matthew Butler — 61.7 (46 plays)
MLB Solon Page III — 60.0 (37 plays)
DE Tyler Baron — 57.3 (22 plays)
DE Roman Harrison — 57.0 (40 plays)
DT Kurott Garland — 55.9 (29 plays)
DE Ja’Quain Blakely — 45.7 (46 plays)
DE Caleb Tremblay — 40.7 (30 plays)
Tennessee’s secondary graded out well against South Carolina with four of the Vols’ top five defenders being defensive backs. Filling in for an injured Theo Jackson, Brandon Turnage was really solid, recording 14 tackles and one for a loss.
Byron Young continues to get better every week after missing the first two games for eligibility issues. The junior college transfer recorded three tackles and 0.5 a sack in the win.
For the first time this season, Tennessee’s defensive line grades weren’t good. Five Vol defensive lineman graded out as “replaceable” .
