Photos: Tennessee Athletics
Four catches. 132 yards. Two touchdowns. Both of them longer than 50.
That is how Mike Matthews opened year three. Not with a quiet 40 yard day you forget by Sunday. With the kind of tape that makes people stop arguing about the receiver room and start arguing about who can cover him.
The first one was a stroll. Three plays into the second half. Play action. Safety bites the run. Matthews is already gone. Fifty five yards. He said they repped it twice in practice and it looked the same on Saturday. Brandon just let him run.
The second one was not a stroll. Two minutes later. Fifty seven yards. Matthews went up and took it. Furman had a hand on him. Did not matter. Career high in yards. Career high in touchdowns in a single game. Fourth 100 yard day of his career.
Last year he caught 53 balls for 813 yards and four scores. Good year. Then the deep shots were a question because the quarterback changed every fall. That question just got answered. Brandon can let it go. Matthews can finish it.
Think about what that does to a defense. You cannot sit on the run when the fastest guy on the roster is a vertical threat with an 18 year old who will actually pull the trigger. He did not miss. Fifty five. Fifty seven. Four minutes.
That is the version of this offense people fell in love with. Matthews behind the defense. The safety wrong. Neyland standing up before the ball is even caught. If this holds, he is the one who changes how people have to play us.
Georgia Tech will have to pick a poison. Play short and he runs by you. Play deep and Braylon Staley plus the tight ends live underneath. Staley is a problem in that slot when the safety is bailing. Ethan Davis and Trent Thomas will eat in the middle. There is no comfortable answer when camp and Saturday both showed the same thing. Brandon can get Matthews the ball.
People wanted a receiver to take the room over. He just did it in the first game. Four targets that counted. Two of them are going to live on every Vols clip show until Saturday.
The rest of the room can eat. Staley. Keys already has a score. The standard at the top just got set in orange. Matthews is not waiting on a breakout.
He is already there, and the freshman quarterback just proved he can find him.