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Eric Gray steals the show on Senior Night, sets freshman record in Vols win

Eric Gray entered Tennessee’s regular-season finale with just 42 yards on 24 carries in his last seven games.

The freshman tailback was No. 3 on the depth chart and had seen his opportunities dwindle by the week, but in a sloppy, rain-infested Senior Day win over Vanderbilt, it was the Memphis native who (surprisingly) starred for the Vols in a win that restored order in a rivalry gone wrong for three years.

“It was a special night,” said Gray after breaking Jamal Lewis’ Tennessee freshman record with 246 rushing yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns.

On a day that saw Tennessee snap a three-game losing streak to Vandy, extend its current 2019 winning streak to five games, and mostly just shoulder-shrug its way through a sloppy and ugly 28-10 win, Gray delivered the evening’s lone true highlights.

The freshman got his opportunity because Ty Chandler was sidelined with an ankle injury, so when he took his first carry 56 yards to the house, suddenly his previously-marginalized-role became a night to remember.

With Tennessee's offense stuck in the mud through the first three series of the game, Gray got his first carry with under four minutes left in the first quarter, dashing up the middle behind key blocks from Brandon Kennedy and Jerome Carvin before veering left and out-running all of Vanderbilt’s defense for a touchdown. Later in the first half with Tennessee backed up on it’s own 6-yard line, Gray again saw a seam, as Darnell Wright washed a linebacker to open up a perfect cut-back lane for Tennessee’s freshman speeder.

The result was 94 yard for Gray, and a touchdown. The second-longest run in Tennessee history (behind only Kelsey Finch in 1977) and the longest run by a freshman in SEC history.

“I was like, ‘Holy crap, he’s gone.’" Trey Smith said. “Once I saw him hit past the 50, I was like, ‘He’s gone.’ So I was just trying to catch up for the celebration.”

“You learn early that holes close quick. You’ve gotta hit it fast. I’ve learned how to be a college running back,” Gray said on his growth from Week 1 to now.

But for a guy who had just 207 rushing yards all season before Saturday night, Gray had a chance to rumble through some openings he hadn’t seen since high school.

“I didn’t get a chance to see (his 94-yard score on the Jumbotron), but I know they made a heckuva block. When I broke, it was no one there. No one on the second level. That was a dream of mine to be backed up like that and take it 94 yards. That’s always been a dream, so it was a blessing to be able to do it.”

Gray hit the hat trick on a toss sweep touchdown in the fourth quarter, ultimately accounting for nearly 60 percent of Tennessee’s offensive output Saturday night.

“(Gray) got hot there,” Jeremy Pruitt said.

“So you think about that, a record at the University of Tennessee, think about all the good runners that have come through here. That says a whole heck of a lot about everybody involved, starting with the quarterback getting us in the right plays, the offensive staff doing a heck of a job game planning, the front, the tight ends, the wide receivers blocking downfield, finishing runs. It’s a great accomplishment.”

As a team, Tennessee rushed for nearly 300 yards, with Kennedy saying the OL "anchored down." They certainly did on three key plays, and that proved the difference on Saturday night.

Gray admitted he was “humbled” by his midseason struggles, but said Saturday was a culmination of lessons learned from Chandler and Tim Jordan.

While much of the pregame discussion centered around the special careers of Jauan Jennings, Daniel Bituli and the rest of Tennessee’s seniors, Gray gave Vol Nation a nice glimpse of the future.

“I got two words (to say about Gray),” fellow freshman linebacker Henry To’oto’o said.

“He’s a dog. Oh wait, that’s three. … Still, he’s a dog. He does that everyday in practice. He’s shown he can do it.”

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