Tennessee is back in action this afternoon, set to welcome ETSU to Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers will be looking to move to 2-0 after handing Syracuse last weekend, 45-26. ETSU is also coming off of a big week one win, beating Murray State 45-17.
The Buccaneers ran for a staggering 392 yards in their opener with running back Devontae Hudson going for 128 yards himself. Hudson averaged 9.1 yards per carry, but will obviously get an uptick in competition level today.
ETSU has plenty of familiar names,
starting at the top. Will Healy is in his first season leading the program after stops at UCF and Georgia State in the previous two seasons. Healy is trying to rebound after being fired at Charlotte back in 2022, looking to rekindle some of the magic he found at Austin Peay several years back.
The Buccaneers also have familiar names at quarterback, starting with former Michigan and Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara. McNamara won the job over former Arkansas and North Carolina quarterback Jacolby Criswell. Expect both to play this afternoon.
Tennessee opened as a 40.5 point favorite over ETSU on Friday, per Fanduel Sportsbook. The total is set at 56.5. The Volunteers covered the two-touchdown spread last weekend against Syracuse in Atlanta.
Josh Heupel and his staff are already dealing with injuries, most notably at cornerback. Tennessee will be without its top two corners today as Jermod McCoy continues to work back from an ACL injury and Rickey Gibson begins to work back from an injury suffered last weekend. That leaves Colton Hood and true freshman Ty Redmond as the starters on the outside, with Jalen McMurray and Boo Carter splitting time at STAR. Expect to see the staff work in some younger players to build out the depth a little bit ahead of Georgia next weekend.
We could also see George MacIntrye and Jake Merklinger get some action under center today, assuming things go as planned early on.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and SEC Network+ (streaming only).
