It's time for that weekly look at who appeared to be worthy of his Southeastern Conference scholarship during Saturday's game and who looked like they deserved to go the way of Darris Sawtelle.
I'm depressed, and hurt and, and .... and hurt [think Anchorman] over the Georgia Bulldogs beating UT 20-12 on Saturday, and as many big orange turds as there were in the punch bowl, there were a few spots that were kind of bright. Let's get on with it so we can go ahead and get over losing to the Dawgs.
Looked the Part: MYCHAL RIVERA
The Vols' senior tight end finished with five catches for 85 yards and the biggest highlight-reel catch of the night in the waning minutes -- or at least one of the two along with Da'Rick Rogers getting laid out and popping back up. Devrin Young gets an honorable mention for this award, but this was Rivera's coming-out party. He looks like an NFL tight end and even outshined UGA star TE Orson Charles. With UGA zeroing in on Rogers, the Vols had to have another target emerge, and Rivera gave Tyler Bray and Matt Simms that. We'll really need him to elevate his play even more going forward, but this performance was very encouraging to see.
Bless his Heart: MARSALIS TEAGUE
When your team sells out to stop the run, that puts extra pressure on your cornerbacks in man coverage. They're on that island, so to speak, and they're in that spotlight squarely on them. Teague failed with the light on him Saturday night. That's not to say I think Teague should be banished to the Island of Misfit Toys, but he was torched by true freshman Malcolm Mitchell for a 71-yard pass that set up Isaiah Crowell's 17-yard touchdown run. While it was Izaeua Lanier that was burned by Mitchell on the other deep ball, Teague struggled all night and was actually beaten multiple times including twice more on deep balls that were overthrown by Aaron Murray. Teague was recruited by Florida and Alabama and everybody else, but he has yet to show he's an elite talent for the Vols.