Vantrel McMillan has left his past in the dust much like he has left a lot of opposing tackles so far this season.
For the second consecutive game, the 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior defensive lineman for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga registered two sacks, aiding in the sixth-ranked Mocs' 34-0 win Saturday against Presbyterian.
"He's playing good," UTC coach Russ Huesman said. "We've never once backed away from saying how talented he was. He can play; he can run; he knows how to rush the passer."
His sack total through two games is more than two times as many sacks as he had in all of 2015 (1.5).
Last season was an up-and-down one for McMillan. He had 6.5 tackles for loss, which tied for fourth on the team, but his season was marred by an off-campus incident after a Sept. 19 win at Samford.
That night, at a party at his house, he was arrested for public intoxication. While being handcuffed, he revealed to police officers that he had a gun in his back pocket, and it was taken away. The arrest led to a two-week, one-game suspension, plus a lot of undisclosed off-field work to get his way back in the coaches' good graces.
"Everybody makes mistakes, but he's doing the right thing and bouncing back from the mistake he made and showing it on the field," receiver Xavier Borishade said. "He worked all summer, worked during camp and now he's leading in sacks and he deserves it.
"A lot of people would have went about it a different way, but he didn't. He took the coaching, took the discipline and now it's showing on the field what he can do."
During that time, there were misreports that he had pulled a gun on the cops, which led to grumblings about his relatively quick return to the team.
"It was frustrating," McMillan said Saturday. "I received a lot of criticism about it, but as long as I know what happened and everything happened for the best, I'm good with it."
So far, everything has fallen into place. He had conversations with former All-American and 2015 NFL fifth-round draft pick Davis Tull, as well as spent time working out with and learning from fellow senior Keionta Davis. The Red Bank graduate had a school-record 13.5 sacks last season, but with added attention being paid to the preseason All-American this season, McMillan leads their friendly competition 4-1.
"It's a great feeling," he said. "I've got to stay focused, though, got to stay on track and make sure everything goes the way it's supposed to."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.