Rashaan Gaulden (7) celebrates a big Tennessee stop. The Florida Gators visited the Tennessee Volunteers in a important SEC football contest at Neyland Stadium on September 24, 2016.KNOXVILLE - With Tennessee in need of a playmaker in its shorthanded secondary, Rashaan Gaulden stepped up and played the best game of his career.
The Volunteers hope the third-year sophomore can build off the performance.
Gaulden made a career-high eight tackles out of his nickel cornerback position against Georgia last week, and against eighth-ranked Texas A&M's talented receiving corps he'll have the chance to make more plays for ninth-ranked Tennessee.
"We thought Rashaan played his best game of his career last Saturday, and hopefully he'll build upon that," Vols coach Butch Jones said this week. "I think he's gaining more and more confidence as the season progresses. This is an individual that's been in our program but really hasn't played very much. He's done an exceptional job of taking care of his body.
"We all know it's very, very important to him, but I was really proud of the way he competed and played. He made some plays Saturday - that's the Rashaan Gaulden that we recruited. We see those plays in practice all the time, and it really translated to the game field.
"Whether it was blitzing, whether it was pursuit to the football, playing the ball in the air it's been great to see his growth and development."
All but one of Gaulden's tackles were solo efforts, and his biggest play of the game was his break-up of a deep pass intended for Isaiah McKenzie, Georgia's speedy slot receiver, in the fourth quarter to clinch a three-and-out for Tennessee's defense following an interception.
Three of Gaulden's tackles were for no gains. He knifed through traffic to cut down McKenzie when he reversed field on an end-around and made another great open-field tackle on receiver Terry Godwin's run out of a wildcat formation. His tackle on Brendan Douglas in the second quarter forced a field goal.
The Vols expected Gaulden to make similar plays last season, but he suffered a season-ending foot injury in preseason practice. For most of this offseason he was set to play safety, but in August Tennessee decided to move him back to the nickel slot to get him closer to the line of scrimmage and better use his skill set.
"Rashaan being injured all last year, it took some time," secondary coach Willie Martinez said. "Prior to his injury he was very consistent. He showed a lot of versatility when he playing nickel leading up to the season the year before, and he was some days the most productive defensive back that we had at that time until he got hurt.
"Him coming back now, I think he feels a lot more comfortable. You can see that (he's) more confident. We played him at safety in the springtime, but at the end of spring and closer to the fall we said this guy is so dynamic closer to the ball."
Gaulden showed why against the Bulldogs. In a disappointing first half for Tennessee's defense, his play stood out. He didn't get credit for it in the box score, but his blitz off the edge led to a Corey Vereen sack.
"He's a great blitzer," Martinez said. "He can play man to man. He's a physical player. He plays a lot bigger than his size, and that's what showed up in the Georgia game, from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. He was very active and disruptive, running around, and he really made some good decisions. He has to make a lot of the checks and the calls.
"That was the exciting thing about it, that the guy we saw in practice prior to his injury really played a complete game for the first time."
The Vols love Gaulden's combination of fearlessness and talent, and they hope he's able to turn those traits into more sterling performances as he settles into his role.
"You want to be under control, but defensively you want guys that play with great passion, great effort, physical (style)," Martinez said. "Those are the things that Rashaan is really good at, along with his speed and his athleticism catching the ball. He's a guy that's not going to shy away from those contact situations, and that's a good thing. It's just trying to control it.
"He's done a lot better job of just calming down and deciphering formations than he was when he was earlier in his career. He's really come a long way with that because he has to make those checks. We want the guy that goes and runs his hat through somebody and plays with great passion, great energy.
"I know this, the players feed off of him, especially in the back end and throughout our defense, and that's a good thing."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.