Derek Barnett (9) and Danny O’Brien (95) look to the bench. The Florida Gators visited the Tennessee Volunteers in a important SEC football contest at Neyland Stadium on September 24, 2016.KNOXVILLE – With three of its stars watching from the sideline, Tennessee’s defense badly needed a spark.
Derek Barnett decided to light the whole place on fire.
The defensive end recorded one of the best performances of his career against Florida by taking over the game in the second half to inspire a valiant effort by the Volunteers’ shorthanded defense.
“He’s not very vocal. As a leader, he speaks with his play,” safety Todd Kelly Jr. said Tuesday, “and I think his pads speak for themselves and the plays that he makes. We kind of feed off of his energy, and when he makes a play, he lets everybody know that I’m doing this for you all and I want to win the game and I have to do whatever it takes in order to do that.
“I feel like he took a big jump in his leadership from that game, and he’s started to become more vocal. He let us know what we need to do and what he’s going to do in order to win the game. I feel like that was a big step for him in the process.”