Tennessee is coming off of their final bye week of the season, set to take on New Mexico State in the annual Salute to Service game at Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers will be in their ‘smokey grey’ uniforms,
looking for win No. 7 on the year.
Tennessee fell last week to Oklahoma in a mistake-filled game, 33-27. The result most likely knocked them out of playoff contention, but the Vols still have plenty to play for in the final three games. Tennessee still has a trip left to Gainesville and a date with Vanderbilt in Knoxville to close the season.
First up though — New Mexico State. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Tennessee is a 40.5 point favorite. The total is set at 61.5.
The Aggies have dropped four straight after a 3-2 start, currently sitting 10th in Conference USA. New Mexico State hasn’t quit fighting though, giving a pretty good Kennesaw State team a scare last week. The Aggies really struggle on the ground, averaging just 2.4 yards per carry this season. Quarterback Logan Fife has eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark through the air, tossing 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on the year.
This week will likely be another opportunity to see some youth play, and it will be interesting to see how locked in the team is after a gutting loss against Oklahoma.
“I want to see growth,” Josh Heupel said. “That’s a lot of different things in a lot of different areas. This is our next opportunity. Play hard, play smart for 60 minutes and play with discipline. That’s alignment, assignment, eyes, keys, technique and go execute. Defensively, win the line of scrimmage and get off the field. Do a great job on the back end, matching things out. Offensively, the the line of scrimmage, play with execution out on the perimeter. And special teams, go win.”
Tennessee and New Mexico State are set for a 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network this Saturday.
