Tennessee backup who had a memorable mistake in loss to Oklahoma got some wise advice afterwards from Miles Kitselman
The veteran tight end had a good suggestion for his position mate after a crushing error.
Tennessee returns to the field on Saturday against New Mexico State two weeks after their season-altering 33-27 home loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. The defeat likely snuffed out any remaining College Football Playoff hopes.
One player who was under the spotlight in a crucial moment was backup freshman tight end Jack Van Dorselaer. With Tennessee trailing 26-17 with under 9 minutes left, they had a fourth-and-one from Oklahoma 37, Joey Aguilar threw a play action pass towards the rarely targeted Van Dorselaer, who had a bit of space to potentially get the first down. However, the ball bounced off his facemask and to the turf for a crushing turnover on downs.
Afterwards, Van Dorselaer got some sage-like advice from his position mate Miles Kitselman, who told him exactly how to handle the situation.
Miles Kitselman says he told Jack Van Dorselaer to delete his social media after the Oklahoma loss
“I went to Jack immediately after that and said you’re going to delete Twitter and delete Instagram real quick, at least for a while, and we didn’t lose that game because of you,” Kitselman said. “I obviously had a couple of those big-time plays at Mississippi State that could have cost us the game, and I had people come up to me saying, you know, just breathing confidence into me and saying ‘play the next play, we’re not gonna lose this ballgame because of that’. And so, for me to go to him and realize that, man, as a freshman in that stage, I know that his whole world was crashing down on him, and I’ve obviously been there before. So, for me to be in that position before and just go to him and explain to him that it’s going to be okay. We did not lose that ballgame because of you.”
Kitselman had a game to forget against Mississippi State, one that would have likely brought him a wave of grief from angry fans on social media had Tennessee lost to the Bulldogs. Although Aguilar put the mistakes on himself, Kitselman had two catchable balls go up in the air of his hands for interceptions. Fortunately, it didn’t result in a loss, as the Vols prevailed in overtime 41-34.
As far as how the message was accepted by Van Dorselaer, Kitselman said he received it “great”.
“He took it very well. Obviously, like any competitor, was down and out about it, but last week – bye week – and then today, just coming out with juice, energy. Me and him, pretty sure we caught a thousand balls in two days last week, and so there’s nothing you can do about it but make sure it never happens again.”
