Bru McCoy beat Marcellas Dial on a slant, and Joe Milton III found him for a 17-yard gain and the first down. The crowd chanted his name as it does with every single one of his catches.
The chants slowly died down as McCoy lay in serious pain. With Dial in pursuit, he awkwardly brought McCoy down as his leg went under him. It was evident right away that it was a significant injury that will likely sideline him for the rest of the season.
The Neyland Stadium crowd of almost 102,000 fans fell silent as McCoy was carted off the field. Players from both sides approached him to give their support. One last chant filled the stadium as the star wide receiver exited the field.
“I truly, honestly didn’t want to go back out there no more,” Milton said. “Just because I know how hard he works, and I know how hard — it is a loss of words pretty much.”
McCoy entered Saturday night with the second-most receiving yards for Tennessee football with 196. He is arguably the most consistent and complete receiver on the roster. If the Vols need a catch, McCoy is their guy. It showed last year as he made the catch that set up Tennessee’s game-winning field goal over Alabama.
His presence goes deeper then as a pass catcher. McCoy is a stout run-blocker and, ultimately, a leader.
“There’s nobody better than him,” Heupel said. “Great teammate, great leader, tough as they come. Works extremely hard to be his best and make sure his teammates do that too.”
His production will not be replaced as easily as it was with Cedric Tillman’s injury in 2022. There is no Jalin Hyatt to fill the void.
It is going to take a significant step up across the rotation to account for the loss of McCoy. Right now, the three obvious names that come to mind will be Squirrel White, Ramel Keyton and Dont’e Thornton Jr.