The Tennessee Volunteers had a packed house for the dominating performance against long-time SEC foe, the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The stadium also had a full prospective visitor section as well. What a game for those young men to witness. This made the third consecutive win at home for the Vols. Although many of the recruits have seen Tennessee football defeat Alabama, it is pretty safe to say that many of these young men, if not all, were not even born the last time the Big Orange dominated the Third Saturday in October.
2028 four-star Archbishop Spalding (MD) IOL Bryce Smalls made the trip down for the heated rivalry. The offense made a ton of plays but for an offensive lineman, nothing may have been more impactful than the 15-play drive that covered 72-yards, devoured over 9-minutes, and resulted in a DeSean Bishop trip to the checkered board.
The big nasties up front enjoy eliminating a defense's will to even continue, and that is what Smalls was able to witness from the Volunteers offensive line, especially in that last drive.
This was Smalls second trip to Knoxville as a recruit.
"It was really loud," Smalls told reporters. "When they had that early fumble recovery that got called back, that's probably the loudest atmosphere I've ever been a part of. I couldn't hear at some points."
The visit definitely helped the Vols efforts of potentially landing Smalls, but they will have to fend off a few big-time programs like Nebraska, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, and LSU as that is a short group of schools that are recruiting the junior lineman the hardest at the moment.
"It (the visit) helps a lot. Yeah, it pushes the conversation more, so it will be interesting to see what it comes down to."
With options to pretty much go where ever, what is going to be most important to the Archbishop Spalding student-athlete?
"Honestly, I'm going to go back to all the practices I've been to, all of the games, the player-coach interactions. The coaches that recruit you aren't always the coaches you will have on the field, so I want to see what that's like and what's probably the best fit for me when making my decision."
You would think after a performance like the Vols had, many prospects will be taking a closer look at what is happening on Rocky Top.
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