Players to Know for the Tennessee Volunteers: Jalin Hyatt
Tennessee has been anything but stable for the last decade, and since 2009 they've gone through five different coaches in the hope that things would change for the better. After winning just under half their games, the Volunteers have had little to no success for the last decade. So, when Josh Heupel was hired from UCF, a lot of Tennessee fans were excited to see the dynamic offense he brought with him and during the first season it was clear things had begun to change.
This year the Volunteers are making up for the last couple of decades with an incredible 8-0 start and look to be on pace for one of their best teams in program history.
Jalin Hyatt originally was recruited and brought in by former head coach Jeremy Pruitt in 2019. As a highly ranked recruit, Hyatt was noted as a lean speedster that played out of one of the best South Carolina schools and was a big pick up for the Volunteers. Hyatt during his first two seasons in Knoxville was averaging just 20 receptions and two touchdowns. But Hyatt quickly became the number one receiver to when Cedric Tillman went down due to injury.
For the 2022 season, Hyatt has already recorded 14 touchdowns, 907 yards and averages 20.2 yards per catch. He had a legendary performance against hated rival Alabama with five touchdowns on six receptions resulting in Tennessee's first win against the Tide in 15 years. Hyatt has done an excellent job working and executing within Heupel's scheme which puts defensive backs in conflict making it difficult to coordinate against.
This week, Kirby will have to make sure that everyone is on the same page defensively regardless of the space and pace of Tennessee's offense. Hyatt has thrived on defensive backs not understanding which coverage they're in or who their guy is. He makes sure that a small misstep or losing eye discipline costs you in a big way. Now with the addition of a healthy Tillman, Hyatt will have even more opportunity to exploit mistakes.
Georgia is no stranger to big games under head coach Kirby Smart. They've played in numerous top ranked match ups against historically great teams but this is arguably the biggest game in Sanford Stadium in Smart's tenure. It's a test of two top ranked teams and pits strength against strength with UGA's defense facing the Volunteer's offense.
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