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Jalin Hyatt reveals what worked so well for him in breakout game vs Alabama

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith•10/17/22•

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Saturday night in Knoxville will go down as one of the most memorable nights in school history, as No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 3 Alabama in a 52-49 upset victory. One of the most memorable individual performances of the day was by Volunteers wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who had a monster day catching six passes for 207 yards and a school and SEC-tying record five touchdowns. Following the game, Hyatt pulled back the curtain on his historic performance and why he was so effective against the Crimson Tide.

“There’s a lot of things, the looks that they were giving us, me and Hook (Hendon Hooker) were on the right page as far as what we were looking at, and not only that, just him trusting in me,” Hyatt explained. “Like I said I’m just blessed, this is what we needed, it’s been a while since we beaten Bama so I’m glad we got the win.”

Tennessee’s quarterback Hendon Hooker and Hyatt clearly had a connection on Saturday, as all of Hooker’s touchdown passes on the day were to Hyatt and over half of his passing yards. Even Hyatt himself didn’t expect to have such an outing, as he became the first player to register three or more touchdowns and 100-plus receiving yards on Alabama during the Nick Saban era, helping snap a 15-game losing streak against the Tide for the Volunteers.

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“To be honest I didn’t know I was gonna have five touchdowns, that’s a lot. But it was just the looks, what they were showing us, what we came to the sideline and what we thought would work against their defense,” Hyatt said.

Hyatt may attribute his big day to their offensive scheme, but his execution was undeniable, as his five touchdown grabs Saturday were more than he had his entire two previous seasons with the Volunteers. His performance earned him SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors and Tennessee a No. 3 ranking in the latest AP Poll, their highest ranking since 2005.

“It’s a lot that goes to it as far as we game plan, how we prepare, we knew we could execute on big plays. We knew that coming into the game we had to if we wanted to win this game, and like I said I’m just proud of everybody in the locker room man and we’re on to the next,” Hyatt said.