Tennessee football junior wide receiver Mike Matthews is a big-play threat every time he touches the ball. The Lilburn, Georgia, native opened the season with 132 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions in the win over Furman, hauling in catch-and-run scores of 55 and 57 yards on back-to-back third-quarter drives.
Over the course of the season, Matthews has totaled 34 receptions for 528 yards and three receiving touchdowns, which places him inside the top 10 for receiving yards in the Southeastern Conference. With a young quarterback situation in Knoxville, the passing game hasn’t been the most effective part of the offense, and the run game has driven the majority of the production.
In Saturday’s 27-24 loss at South Carolina, Matthews finished with five receptions for 47 yards, but a play that would have changed his day never counted. A 48-yard touchdown catch was wiped off the board by a penalty, one of the more frustrating moments in a game decided by three points. He still found the end zone on an 8-yard run out of the wildcat (“Mike Cat”) that put the ball directly in his hands on his only carry of the day.
— Dale Dowden (@Dale_Dowden) October 26, 2026This was an absolute dime from George MacIntyre to Mike Matthews
Matthews was able to haul in the reception despite having his left arm held down, but it was ultimately negated due to off-setting penalties
(Ineligible man down field and DPI)@VolsOnSI pic.twitter.com/ipW3iugy2L
That’s been one of the biggest takeaways for Tennessee over the last couple of weeks. Good things happen when Matthews touches the ball. He’s at his best on the move, catching it in stride or taking a direct snap with a full head of steam and letting his speed and physicality do the rest.
The slant is a big part of that. It puts a receiver in traffic, but it gets the ball to him quickly with room to run. Matthews said last week that his speed gives him confidence over the middle.
“Really just trusting myself,” Matthews said. “Running slants is sometimes dangerous because there’s a lot of bodies inside. But I know that I play with a lot of speed going in and out of breaks, and I’m going to trust whoever’s back there to put me in position to make a play on the ball.”
He brings value without the ball, too. He’s selfless and a physical blocker in the run game, a part of the job plenty of receivers don’t want to do.
“I feel like it’s been a mentality, but I definitely have grown just being around our running backs and knowing that they’re always going to break a tackle and always keep going,” Matthews said. “I know if I had the ball, I would want somebody blocking for me just like that.”
That willingness makes him a complete receiver. But Tennessee’s offense is more dangerous when Matthews has the ball, and throughout the remainder of the season, the Vols have to make it a priority. He is a playmaker.
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