Dan Fleser
Will Brooks came to Tennessee in 2020 as a walk-on. On Saturday night, the redshirt-senior ran like he stole something – which he did – and kept running all the way to Vols football lore.
The safety intercepted a pass in the second quarter and took it 85 yards for a touchdown. It was the 10th longest interception return in program history and the longest since 2017.
In the moment, the play truncated a possession in which UT’s defense was in retreat against North Carolina State, having surrendered 59 yards on the four previous plays. For the game, Brooks’ TD dash helped divert in dramatic fashion a one-score margin toward an eventual 51-10 rout at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
Brooks really covered some ground then.
“Yeah,’’ said jubilant UT coach Josh Heupel afterward, drawing out the first word of his reaction for emphasis. “How about that.”
How about finding Brooks a scholarship. After arriving from Birmingham, Al., he has risen through UT’s football ranks, making his first mark as a special teams ace in 2022. He’s earned a starting spot in the secondary to start this season. And now he’s a hero.
To hear him tell it, he was just doing his job against the Wolfpack.
“We had a good call for the (coaches) box upstairs,” he said. “I was able to go read my keys and go make the play.”
Heupel considered the play in terms of both the individual and the team.
Regarding Brooks, a single play was a fitting reward for his years of diligence.
“You keep investing, good things (will) happen,” Heupel said. “He’s special, a great teammate, great leader. Absolutely love that guy.”
As for the Vols, defender Joshua Josephs, who made his first career start at the weak-side defensive end position, was an aggressive accomplice to Brooks’ theft. Josephs’ pass rush forced Wolfpack quarterback Grayson McCall to make a high throw. Brooks read the play and pounced, snatching a pass that was intended for tight end Justin Joly.
Heupel had challenged the Vols beforehand to be the most physical team and the defense responded as if the coach had issued a call to arms.
“We wanted to come out here with our hair on fire,” lineman Bryson Eason said. “You know what I mean?”
Yes sir.
After some initial adjustments, UT’s defenders “absolutely destroyed” the line of scrimmage, according to Heupel. The statistical evidence included three sacks and 13 tackles for lost yardage. North Carolina State had just 143 yards of total offense.
Several plays, while less impactful than Brooks’ TD return, also were worthy examples of the defense’s dominance. End Dominic Bailey caused and recovered a third-quarter fumble – all while being held on the play. Later, with the outcome well in hand early in the fourth quarter, cornerback Jermod McCoy – despite giving up three inches and 58 pounds to State’s Joly – took on the physical disparity and a stiff arm to boot to tackle the tight end for no gain on a fourth-and-one play.
“Defensively, man, just an elite performance,” Heupel said. “It’s as good a performance as I’ve been around.”
Here are a couple other notes:
-The offense’s response to Heupel’s physicality challenge was 249 yards rushing and a 5.7 yards-per-carry average. Running back Dylan Sampson led this charge with 132 yards and two touchdowns.
“O-line, tight ends, everybody was involved in the run game,” Sampson said. “Just did a good job of straining, straining.”
The offense’s back-breaking follow-up to Brooks’ TD was a 10-play touchdown drive to start the second half. It featured seven running plays, six in a row at one point. They served to set up arguably UT’s best pass play of the game. Tight end Miles Kitselman engaged a defender on an apparent block before sneaking downfield for a wide-open 15-yard TD reception.
Heupel danced an Irish jig on the sideline to celebrate the play.
-Quarterback Nico Iamaleava accounted for 276 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. He directed four scoring drives after throwing an interception in the second quarter and two more after his third-quarter interception was returned 87 yards for the Wolfpack’s lone touchdown.
“We got a chance to see him respond to a bad play,” Heupel said.
In a postgame interview with ABC/ESPN’s Holly Rowe, Iamaleava indicated he’s put in some time developing his response to adversity.
“I think that’s something that’s stuck with me since I was young,” he said. “My Dad instilled that in me.”
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters and the U.S. Basketball Writers Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.