Tennessee's defense continues to look for Kamal Hadden's replacement
While going into Lexington and coming out with its first true-road win of the season, Tennessee's defense wasn't able to make the impact it typically does.
Instead, Kentucky did damage to the unit in the form of 27 points. The majority of this came from quarterback Devin Leary as he had his best game as a Wildcat while completing 28-of-39 passes for 372 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Part of the reason for the lack of success the Vols had against Kentucky's air attack was poor play from the secondary. This came in the first game this season without Kamal Hadden at cornerback.
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For Hadden, the injury suffered against Alabama ended a previously phenomenal final year of eligibility. He was considered among the top cornerbacks in the country while playing lockdown coverage and coming up with three interceptions.
“Extremely disappointed for (Hadden)," said head coach Josh Heupel. "That’s a young guy who came into our program and has continued to grow on the field and off the field. He was playing his best football. You just hate seeing that the season ends up being taken away. That’s hard for those guys emotionally. They miss the opportunity to be in the locker room and be with the guys. Your heart goes out to them. I thought the guys that had the opportunity to play stepped in and did some really good things. We’re going to need to continue to grow there to continue to perform the way that we want to down the stretch.”
Replacing Hadden opposite of Gabe Jeudy-Lally in the starting lineup was senior Doneiko Slaughter. The cornerback made the change to the position last season against Kentucky and has worked there every since.
On Saturday, he played 45 snaps while seeing varying degrees of success.
Off the bench, another pair of veterans attempted to fill the void, as well. Warren Burrell and Brandon Turnage played 19 and 10 snaps, respectively, in relief.
For Tennessee, this showcases its next-man-up mentality. When Hadden went down, everyone behind him's role simply got bigger.
"Kamal is a real good player making big strides this year," said safety Wesley Walker. "It sucked losing him. People just got to step up. I think we've got people in the room that are built for it, too. They approach the situation the right way. They've got an opportunity. I know they'll fill in the role really well."
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The players in relief have areas that need improvement but defensive coordinator Tim Banks liked what he saw.
Although the total output wasn't where it needs to be, he thinks they did enough to put the team in a position to win.
“Obviously, Kamal was a big part of what we did the majority of the season," said Banks. "It’s obviously a shame the kid won’t have a chance to finish what he did. But, I felt good. The guys played hard. Obviously, there’s some things that we can all do better. But, I thought, overall, those guys competed and gave us a great opportunity to win the game, which we obviously did.”
Along with the trio of veterans who stepped up, Tennessee also looked to younger players for production. As a freshman, Rickey Gibson III entered the game but was forced to exit after two positive snaps due to injury.
While the Vols look to put the best pair of cornerbacks it can on the field, getting these young players reps early in their career could also be benefiical.
"I know there's some young talent," said Walker. "I can't really just single out one. There's a lot of young talent and guys on the team that I watch practice and they keep getting better. I think that's really just want the coaches want them to do. Don't worry about throwing themself in the fire. Just keep working on their fundamentals and keep getting better. I imagine seeing a lot of them make strides."
Next, Tennessee will face UConn in an attempt to work on itself before finishing out SEC play. This could be a great opportunity go figure out the long-term solution in replacing Hadden and getting young defensive backs chances to see the field.
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