Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett (82) can't reach a pass as Tennessee defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. (6) defends during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, in Athens, Ga.KNOXVILLE -- Todd Kelly may have been the only person in Vanderbilt Stadium at the time to realize it.
Tennessee's freshman safety caught a tipped ball along the sideline in the third quarter with the Commodores trailing by just a touchdown and driving near midfield, but the potential interception quickly was ruled incomplete.
An instant-replay review revealed what Kelly already knew, that he got his left toe inbounds as he caught the ball.
"Most people didn't think I caught the ball, so I told them to review it, because I knew I got my foot down," he recalled after Tennessee practiced Sunday for the Jan. 2 Taxslayer Bowl.
"That kind of swung the momentum of the game, and I was just trying to impact the game any way I could."
Despite imited opportunities, Kelly has done that a few times this season. The four-star recruit's three interceptions against Georgia, Florida and Vanderbilt were enough for him to land on the All-SEC freshman team announced late last week.
Kelly started only three games -- twice in September and against Missouri in November, after starter Brian Randolph was suspended for a half for a targeting penalty he committed the previous game -- and played most of the season behind Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil, but he often made an impact in the chances he did get.
"He takes advantage of it because he prepares," secondary coach Willie Martinez said after Tuesday's practice. "He has a high, high, high level-of-care factor. It's important to him, and he prepares like that off the field. When given the opportunity, he's produced and he's taken advantage of it.
"All that does is give us more confidence in him. He gains confidence, but he also gains the confidence of the staff. He's somebody that we always count on in special teams, and now we feel really comfortable with putting him in on defense at any spur of the moment, it doesn't really matter.
"That's made us a better team, having those guys be more productive and (having) more confidence in them that they can go in there and perform."
Kelly's three pickoffs were the most by a Tennessee true freshman since Eric Berry had five in 2007, and he finished ninth on the team with 30 tackles, including a team-high six in the first half against Missouri when called into the starting lineup.
"As long as the coaches trust me to be in the game at some point in time, I was pretty confident that I'd be able to step in and not make the playing level of the safeties go down at all," he said. "The other two safeties that started over me, they just supported me, and I've learned a lot from them, because they're older guys. I just look up to them and take after them."
Middle men
Jacksonville residents Jakob Johnson and Kenny Bynum have to be happy about the homecoming they'll have when the Vols play in the Taxslayer Bowl, but until then the two are battling it out at middle linebacker in the ongoing absence of the suspended A.J. Johnson.
"I think they've both done an outstanding job of preparing, and that was the thing for me that was most important," defensive coordinator John Jancek said Tuesday. "When everything happened (with A.J. Johnson), we knew we were going to go with Kenny and Jakob.
"I really challenged them to put the extra time to make sure they had a thorough understanding of the game plan of what it was we were going to do. I was really pleased with their efforts and the time that they put in."
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Jakob Johnson, a German-born freshman who racked up 112 tackles, 15 for loss and six sacks in his lone season at Jean Ribault High School after moving to the United States, started against Missouri and Vanderbilt in the wake of the two-time All-SEC pick's suspension and struggled in both.
Bynum, who wrestled in addition to playing football at Raines High School, actually committed to Butch Jones and his staff at Cincinnati in 2012 before flipping to Tennessee and Derek Dooley after signing day, and the redshirt sophomore finished the Vanderbilt game in Jakob Johnson's place.
Tennessee tidbits
Quarterback Quinten Dormady, who will enroll at Tennessee next month, was at practice Tuesday, and the four-star prospect out of Texas watched and followed the Vols' quarterbacks. ... Tennessee-bound tailback Alvin Kamara was named a junior college All-American on Tuesday after the former Alabama freshman ran for 1,211 yards and 18 touchdowns on 172 carries and caught 18 passes for 219 yards and three scores in 10 games at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. ... Former Tennessee freshman tailback Derrell Scott reportedly will transfer to East Carolina.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.