Tennessee held Ray Davis to 42 yards rushing. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Tennessee defensive lineman Omari Thomas had four tackles in Saturday night’s 33-27 win at Kentucky but did not get a sack of quarterback Devin Leary.
“You have to give it to Kentucky, they have a good offensive line, they block well, they play together, and it threw us off a little bit as far as under pressure and everything,” Thomas said.
“We continue to play hard and enjoy the outcome of it, but we have to get back to it, work on new things to affect the quarterback more, and continue to get back to what we do.”
Leary threw for 372 yards and two touchdowns. However, the Vols had more success shutting down Ray Davis, the SEC’s leading rusher. He had just 42 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.
“Just playing along the other side of the line of scrimmage, he’s a great running back,” Thomas said. “He makes people miss. He is patient. He hits the hole fast. We have to play in our gaps with great technique and I feel like that is what we did.”
The Vols were coming off a loss at Alabama where they blew a first-half lead. They didn’t let Kentucky do the same to them.
“We just embraced having another opportunity to come in this Saturday to play the game. We always look forward to those Saturdays because it is another opportunity for us to go out there and be the best team on the field and I feel like how we (our team) approach the game weekly, regardless of win or lose,” the Tennessee defensive lineman said.
“We always come in just trying to be motivated, always uplifting each other and having fun and being free within the facility because we believe everyone needs to be happy to do what we do at a high level.”
