KNOXVILLE – Kyler Kerbyson was a Tennessee fan growing up and spent parts of his childhood attending games at Neyland Stadium, so he probably saw a few senior days even before he began playing for the Volunteers.
Today it’s his turn.
The fifth-year senior offensive tackle will be one of the 19 players recognized by Tennessee (7-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) before today’s home finale against Vanderbilt (4-7, 2-5), meaning he’ll have to manage the emotions of a moment he has long anticipated.
“I’ve just got to make it count,” he said this week. “It’s definitely my last game here, and I want to go out on a high note. That’s just helped me be locked in even more and concentrate on what I have to do. Definitely thoughts have started to creep in that this is my last Tuesday (practice), last Monday or whatever. That kind of creeps into your mind, but you can’t let it make you emotional, because it’ll hurt your game. You can’t let it affect you.
“I know running through the ‘T’ for the last time, it’s a very emotional thing and them calling out your name individually, but you have to be locked in for the game and understand that the season’s not over. Once you run through that ‘T’ you still have a whole game to play. Then we have another one after that.”