KNOXVILLE - One player gets the glory.
The other 10 are essential to the success.
Tennessee entered November with the leading kickoff return man in the country in Evan Berry and the third-leading punt returner in Cameron Sutton, but the Volunteers wouldn't be as good as they've been in the return game this season without good schemes and better blocking.
Tennessee defensive back Evan Berry runs a kickoff return for a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, in Lexington, Ky. Tennessee won 52-21.Last week against Kentucky, Tennessee scored its fourth and fifth return touchdowns of the season and took a punt and kickoff back for scores in the same game - something that hadn't happened since 1950 - for the second time this season.
"Guys have wanted to be on there from the time that we've been here," Mark Elder, the Vols' special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, said after Tuesday's practice. "We emphasize special teams a great deal, and that's part of why we're successful, is we put a lot of emphasis on it. We practice these units every single day.
"But then when you see on top of that that this is really helping and we're pretty darn good on some of these returns, they want to be on it even more. Guys are competing and wanting to be on it. If they get taken off for a week, they want to get right back in there. That's great, and finding success, guys want to be a part of that, so that's good to see."
So who are these mystery men, the players who open the seams for Berry or Sutton or Alvin Kamara, who's averaged 16.5 yards on six punt returns and scored a touchdown of his own, and go unnoticed by most for doing their jobs?
In Lexington, the kickoff return team consisted of freshman cornerback Micah Abernathy, the up man who led Berry to the proper seam and got the key block on the kicker; walk-on safety Max Arnold; linebackers Colton Jumper, Kenny Bynum, Cortez McDowell, Austin Smith and Dillon Bates; tight ends Joe Stocstill and Jakob Johnson; and running back John Kelly.
Thanks to Berry and the players in front of him, kickoff returns have become must-watch plays for the Vols, whether it's the offense about to go on the field or the defenders who likely just gave up a score and are making adjustments on the sideline between series.
"We just say don't kick it to him," quarterback Josh Dobbs said. "(Kentucky) kicked it to him once and he took it back. Every time he catches the ball, you have a feeling something big is going to happen."
"I watch every time, just because I know something's going to happen," added linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin. "Every time I see Evan back there, I'm just hoping they kick it to him and give him a chance. I know he'll make a big play."
The punt return team against Kentucky included Bates, McDowell, Jumper, Arnold and Abernathy in addition to cornerbacks Justin Martin and Emmanuel Moseley and linebackers Chris Weatherd, Gavin Bryant and Elliott Berry, Evan's twin.
"I love watching them," said Reeves-Maybin, himself a former special teams ace. "I always tell the linebackers before the game to make an impact. Even the guys not playing on defense that are on special teams, they're all on special teams now and all making an impact.
"Our kickoff return team is great with or without Evan Berry. He's doing a great job returning it, but those guys block up front, and they do it really well. Punt return, we work at it every day of every week, and when they've got that confidence and that guy back there returning it, it makes all of them want to go so much harder and hold their guys up.
"They've been doing a great job of it all year."
Tennessee's coverage teams took massive steps from 2013 - remember when Auburn returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns? - to last season, when the Vols ranked second in the SEC against both kickoffs and punts.
Elder said the Vols were hopeful they could be dynamic in the return game this season with Berry, who averaged nearly 29.5 yards per return, and Sutton, who took one all the way at Vanderbilt, both back and Kamara added.
It's turned out that way, as Tennessee has become very dangerous in the return game.
"We spend a lot of time on special teams," Elder said. "We spend a lot of time on technique. We've invested a great deal in being good on those units, and then guys take more and more pride. You start seeing, 'Wow, we're doing a nice job, we got a 'house' call, we got the ball to the 40.'
"Guys start getting more excited about that, and they take even more pride in their execution, even though it may not be the guy fielding the football. They're taking greater pride in their piece of the puzzle, and that helps."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.