Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb faked two hand-offs — one to slot receiver Jaquill Capel on a would-be jet sweep, and another to running back Marcus Cox — and looked down the left side of the field before turning slightly to his right and firing a pass toward wide receiver Shaedon Meadors in a designated spot in the corner of the end zone.

It was a well-designed play.

Micah Abernathy saw it from the snap, though. And he stopped it.

Tennessee’s sophomore safety broke up the fourth-down pass, sealing the Vols’ thrilling, 20-13 win over the Mountaineers.

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It was that kind of discipline — combined with athleticism, of course — that made everyone in the Tennessee program so confident Abernathy would play well in his first career start. And the Atlanta-area native played very well, collecting eight tackles, one tackle for loss and the game-ending pass breakup.

Tennessee sophomore safety Micah Abernathy

The grandson of iconic Civil Rights leader Dr. Ralph David Abernathy and son of Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy III came from a family where commitment, discipline and excellence were baseline expectations. When he’s asked to do something, he does it.

“Consistency is something my parents instilled in me my entire life, so I feel like that’s something I’ve been doing since I was a little kid,” Abernathy said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s just taking that off the field and bringing it on the field and in the film room.”

Abernathy was a steadying presence on the back end throughout Tennessee’s season-opening win, and the game’s final play was no different.

Rather than chase the ball on either of Lamb’s two play-action fakes or the quarterback’s initial look to the front side, Abernathy stayed firmly in his spot. He avoided three tasty-looking pieces of bait, and he likely prevented a touchdown that would have left the Mountaineers an extra point away from sending the game to a second overtime or a 2-point conversion away from leaving Neyland Stadium with a shocking win.

Abernathy sheepishly suggested he’d just done his job, though. He’d seen that play on film, and he’d seen it during the game, and he thought Lamb would come back to the weak side.

“I saw the quarterback look front side first, and throughout the game they like to throw back shoulders and a lot of backside passes, so I knew I needed to stay home and try to make a play,” he said. “I feel like I was in the right place at the right time, but also that’s on the other 10 players that are out there on the field. Whether it’s the D-line getting pressure on the quarterback, or our linebackers dropping, you know, it wasn’t just me. Our D-line, they played really good, along with Cortez McDowell and Darrin Kirkland.

“Really I felt like it was a whole-team effort.”

Tennessee fans, as well as several people in the program, spent this offseason salivating over the thought of highly touted true freshman Nigel Warrior — the son of former Vols and NFL star Dale Carter — wreaking havoc at the safety position, but Abernathy quietly (at least to those outside the program) put together an offseason that made anything but a first-team spot practically impossible.

Abernathy was a fine prospect in his own right — he was the nation’s No. 227 overall prospect in the 2015 industry-generated 247Sports Composite — and he contributed to the Vols as a backup to starter Malik Foreman at the nickel spot and a special-teams standout as a true freshman.







The 6-foot, 195-pound Abernathy attacked the entire offseason. He was impressive in winter workouts, spring practice, summer workouts and preseason camp, and at some point it stopped looking like a potential fluke.

“Malik was playing so solid from the middle to end part of the season last year, or Micah would have played a lot more,” defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said in preseason camp. “We wanted to play him more. We feel comfortable with him now at the safety positions, and we feel like he’ll excel there.”

The calm, confident Abernathy never looked anxious during his first career start, and he said he never felt that way, either.

“Coming into the game, I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” he said. “I was just anxious to get out on the field and play with my brothers. I knew that I was a good player, and I knew the coaches trusted me, as well as my teammates, and I just knew I had to go out there and prove it.”

And that’s exactly what Abernathy did.

But the steady sophomore said he’ll have to prove it again Saturday night at the Battle at Bristol between the 14th-ranked Vols and Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Starting in front of 100,000-plus people last week didn’t faze Abernathy, but this weekend’s crowd of perhaps 160,000 — which would smash the current college record by more than 35,000 — could be enough to rattle anyone.

“That did build my confidence, last week’s game,” Abernathy said. “But I know this is a new week, and I have to prove myself again each and every day in practice and every week in the game. So I’m trying to, you know, not forget about it, but move on to the next week.”

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Contact Wes Rucker by email at wesrucker247@gmail.com or ON TWITTER, or FOLLOW GOVOLS247 ON FACEBOOK.