LIVE CHATBeat writer Patrick Brown will interact with fans at noon Thursday at timesfreepress.com.
KNOXVILLE - There was a time when the anxiety replaced the appetite for Todd Kelly Jr.
Tennessee's freshman safety can look back on it and laugh now, though.
"I get nervous before every game, ever since I was 7," Kelly recalled after the Volunteers practiced Tuesday, three days after he made his first collegiate start in the win against Arkansas State. "It's kind of funny, because when I was 7, I had to eat peanut-butter crackers, and my dad made me eat at least three because I couldn't even eat before the games.
"Before the Utah State game, I could hardly eat at all. Arkansas State was a little bit better, so maybe as I mature and get older I'll be able to start eating my food and not getting as nervous.
"I always say it's good to be nervous because you're anxious to get out there and make plays for your team."
The 6-foot, 203-pound Knoxville resident figures to have plenty of playmaking in his future, and Tennessee certainly could use a few when it visits No. 4 Oklahoma on Saturday.
On the first play of his Tennessee career, Kelly, whose father was an All-America defensive end for the Vols, recovered a fumble on kickoff coverage to set up a touchdown in the first quarter of the 38-7 season-opening win against Utah State.
In his first start, the four-star recruit finished with five tackles in the win against Arkansas State.
"I think he did well," cornerback Cam Sutton said Monday. "He played very well throughout the course of the game. He does a great job preparing and staying in the film room and staying on us as well as the rest of the secondary. He knows what he's doing out there.
"You can see he's comfortable out there, so he's just got to go out there and continue to make plays."
Tennessee coach Butch Jones said Monday he was "very encouraged" by Kelly's performance, and it appears he'll maintain a grip on the starting safety spot next to valuable veteran Brian Randolph.
"No matter who you are, whether you're in the NFL, college, or even when I was in high school, nobody's perfect," Kelly said. "You can always find things to work on and improve on. I just look at it every day and just try to find certain things I can work on, whether it's communication or being in the right spot. I'm just focused on doing that."
It's that approach that's both helped Kelly earn a role in the Vols' defense and drawn praise from his head coach.
Tennessee defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. (6) comes up with the ball after a turnover by Utah State."TK has had a level of maturity ever since he arrived," Jones said after Tuesday's practice. "He's going through the experiences of playing collegiate football for the first time, so yeah, there's a lot of growing pains, but he's been very, very mature. He's been one of those freshmen that he's been a little bit different in the way he handles himself.
"He's extremely cerebral; he's very bright; he has great football intelligence, great instincts. And I think that really helps him."
With Randolph rehabbing a sprained ankle he suffered against Utah State, Kelly said he was told early last week he would be starting.
"Once I knew," he added, "I had to get my mind right and make sure I was doing what I was supposed to do, locked in, knowing all the checks and all the schemes and things like that so I wouldn't be the guy to bust a coverage or anything out there."
The Vols have been high on Kelly's potential since he signed as part of the touted 2014 class in February, and while starring at Webb School of Knoxville just down the road from Tennessee's campus, he attracted interest from such programs as Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and others.
Thus it's no surprise he quickly found his way into the starting lineup.
"We have a lot of talented guys," Kelly said. "We have a lot of people that could be starting. We might end up rotating. At the end of the day, it's just about getting out there and making plays."
Twelve years removed from being force-fed crackers before games, Kelly now has a hunger to be a playmaker for the Vols.
"He goes out there and plays his heart out on the field," Sutton said, "and a guy like that, you can't ask for anything else."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.