Tennessee Football: 5 Seniors Who Can End Their Careers on a High Note

The Tennessee Volunteers' 2014 senior class has seen more turmoil and disappointment than just about any in program history.

After arriving in Knoxville as freshmen in 2010 and 2011, these players almost certainly expected to give their all for a program where bowl games were a foregone conclusion and SEC East titles were a possibility almost every year. 

Instead, their commitment was rewarded with three straight losing seasons and three straight Decembers spent sitting at home while many of their high school teammates played in prestigious bowl games around the country.

But now, during their final seasons as Vols, they will finally get a taste of postseason play in a destination bowl, no less.

The TaxSlayer Bowl matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 2 won't draw much national attention, but it's the biggest accomplishment to date for Tennessee's senior class and gives the seniors an opportunity to right so many things that went wrong during the past four seasons. 

Here are five seniors who can end their careers on a high note at EverBank Field three weeks from today. 

Marlin Lane

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Marlin Lane's career at Tennessee has been marked by injuries dating back to before he ever stepped foot on campus. 

However, those injuries, including a torn anterior cruciate ligament in high school, haven't stopped him from being one of Tennessee's most reliable players. His hard running near the end of the Vols game against No. 11 South Carolina in 2013 set them up near the goal line and gave Michael Palardy a chip-shot field goal to win the game.

Even now as a senior playing backup to freshman Jalen Hurd, Lane still proves he can get yards when his team needs them the most, according to 247Sports' Wes Rucker. 

When Hurd left the game against Vanderbilt with an upper-body injury early in the matchup, Lane gained 51 yards on 16 carries. Although he averaged just 3.2 yards per carry, he had two critical runs to put Tennessee in scoring range to extend its lead over the Commodores.

Although he doesn't have the speed or size of Hurd, Lane has a knack for finding holes in the line of scrimmage and picking up yards that other backs tend to miss—a trait the Vols will need to extend drives against the Hawkeyes and head back to Knoxville with the program's first winning season since 2009. 

Jordan Williams

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Jordan Williams emerged this season as one of Tennessee's leaders on defense.

After starting his career as a Vol at defensive end, Williams bulked up in the offseason and entered 2014 at 284 pounds. 

As a defensive tackle, it looks like he's finally found his calling. Williams started all 12 games next to Danny O'Brien on the interior of Tennessee's defensive line and racked up 25 total tackles, including two sacks and four tackles for loss.

Although the Vols rank just 64th in the county in run defense, they could have been much, much worse—especially since the entire starting defensive line from 2013 ran out of eligibility and had to be replaced with four new players.

With a trip to Jacksonville for the TaxSlayer Bowl, Williams will not only get to play in his first ever bowl game, but he'll also close out his college career in a stadium just 70 miles from where he grew up in Gainesville.

Williams was one of the most emotional players on the field and in the locker room after Tennessee's shocking upset victory against South Carolina on the road on Nov. 1, and it's hard to imagine the senior leaving anything on the field against Iowa when he plays in front of his family and friends on Jan. 2. 

Matt Darr

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Matt Darr arrived at Tennessee in 2010 to big expectations. He was one of the highest-rated punters in the country and was poised to be a big weapon for Tennessee's special teams.

Darr finally saw the field in 2011 after redshirting as a freshman, but it was clear that he wasn't quite ready to live up to his high school potential just yet.

In 2012, Darr punted in only six games, and by 2013, he lost his job to Michael Palardy and seemed destined to finish out his collegiate career sitting on the bench.

But this season, something clicked. After averaging 38.1 yards per punt in 2011, Darr's only other full season as a punter, he now average 42.5 yards per punt.

In addition, he has booted 23 punts for 50-plus yards throughout the course of the season.

Tennessee head coach Butch Jones told Mike Strange of KnoxNews.com that Darr has been "kicking very well for us" and that he has "great confidence." 

Credit Jones for turning around Darr's career at Tennessee, much like he did with Palardy during his final season with the Vols in 2013.

Now, Darr gets one more chance to leave a legacy in Knoxville and show the country why he was picked as the top punter in the nation coming out of Frontier High School in Bakersfield, California. 

Justin Coleman

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Justin Coleman has quietly turned into a major asset for Tennessee's defensive backfield in his senior season.

He currently leads the team with four interceptions on the year, and two of those played big roles in helping the Vols become bowl eligible.

After Tennessee failed to convert a fourth down in the first quarter against South Carolina, quarterback Dylan Thompson threw a deep pass out of his own end zone that was intercepted by Coleman and returned to the red zone to put Tennessee back in scoring position.

He also had a diving interception against Vanderbilt that ended a promising drive for the Commodores and allowed Tennessee to flip field position.

Coleman is one of the most veteran players on the team, with 33 starts in a row dating back to the 2012 season. Despite his level of experience, the TaxSlayer Bowl will be his first postseason game as a Vol, but as he told 247Sports' Wes Rucker, a one-bowl game career is better than a no-bowl game career. 

The Hawkeyes aren't known for turning the ball over through the air with only six interceptions thrown on the season, but you can bet that Coleman will be poised and ready to take advantage of any mistimed throws on Jan. 2. 

Jacob Gilliam

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Other than making a bowl game, Jacob Gilliam's injury and comeback is the biggest story of Tennessee's 2014 season.

As everyone knows, Gilliam was a longtime walk-on offensive tackle who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Tennessee's first game of the season against Utah State.

After returning to action against Ole Miss, Gilliam has started every game since and will be the Vols' starting right tackle against Iowa to end his career at Tennessee.

Along with Matt Darr, Gilliam is the only Tennessee player on the current roster to experience a bowl game, as he traveled with the Vols to Nashville for the Music City Bowl in 2010 as a redshirt freshman.

With surgery likely scheduled in the days immediately following the game to repair the damage in his knee, Gilliam will have one last hurrah as a football player in Jacksonville.

Tennessee's offensive line has been porous all season, but the Hawkeyes aren't as effective as many other teams the Vols have faced at rushing the passer, ranking just 59th in the nation in total sacks, according to NCAA.com statistics.

Going up against a forgiving defensive line is the perfect scenario for allowing Gilliam to end his career at Tennessee on a high note and with a tangible reward for enduring half a season in the sport's toughest conference with an injury that used to be career-ending.