Princeton Fant's touchdown one of many highlights in Vols' win over Alabama
The Tennessee offense had worked on the play all week.
Out of necessity because of depth issues, Princeton Fant, the Vols' 6-foot-2, 245-pound tight end, has split time in practice at running back throughout the first half of the season.
In Tennessee's biggest game of the season, he finally got his chance to run the ball.
With the Vols leading 21-10 early in the second quarter and with the ball at the Alabama 2-yard line, Fant lined up at fullback before corralling a Hendon Hooker handoff and barreling through the Crimson Tide defense and into the end zone to extend Tennessee's lead by three scores.
It was one of many memorable highlights in the Vols' historic 52-49 win, which snapped a 15-game losing streak to Alabama.
"We had been practicing it all week," Fant said. "Just playing emergency running back is definitely something that we've been talking about, me and coach. Just with that, man ... it was a blessing to be able to go in there at fullback and just do whatever I could for my team and get in the end zone to help our team."
It helped. A lot.
Fant did exactly what the coaching staff hoped he could do if a reason to line him up in the backfield was ever needed.
It wasn't necessarily needed against Alabama. Running backs Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright were efficient, combining for 124 yards and a touchdown. But Fant provided another dynamic weapon to an already lethal Tennessee offense.
"We had been talking about it. As a coaching staff, just talking to the coaches, they've seen my running back skills, they've seen how I can run the ball," Fant said. "With that, man, I was just out there having fun with it. The coaches were like, 'You can run the ball, man?,' and I was like 'Yeah, coach.' We just went from there, man. We were just having fun with it."
It was one of two critical plays Fant made in the game.
After Tennessee reclaimed the lead on a Hooker 78-yard touchdown pass to Jalin Hyatt with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Vols turned to Fant again on the two-point conversion.
Fant lined up behind the left guard this time, then ran towards the inside – taking a pitch from Hooker and walking into the end zone to put Tennessee back up by seven.
"It's definitely a blessing for our team (to beat Alabama)," Fant said. "Especially just going through the coaching changes. Now you can see us now. ... We're here, we're hungry and we want more."
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