Finally, Tennessee football is here. The Volunteers will head down to Atlanta to face Syracuse on Saturday, kicking off the 2025 campaign. Tennessee will be working in a new quarterback following the Nico Iamaleava departure, handing former Appalachian State signal caller Joey Aguilar the keys to the car.
Tennessee enters the season with plenty of questions, but so does Syracuse. The Orange lost a ton of offensive production, just like the Volunteers did. They’ll also be working in new starters at
quarterback, running back, receiver and the offensive line. That creates plenty of intrigue on a neutral field to open the season.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Tennessee remains as a 13.5 point favorite.
How will it play out? Let’s take a stab at it.
The offensive line will shine
On paper, Tennessee’s offensive line might be an area of concern with four starters exiting the program from a season ago. However, when you really dig into it, they might have gotten more talented. A multi-year starter in Wendell Moe takes over at guard while a five-star, top five overall player from the class of 2025 in David Sanders takes over at right tackle. Left tackle Lance Heard is healthy and Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton is likely set to get the center gig. A fall camp surprise — Jesse Perry — is rumored to win the other starting guard spot.
You know how Tennessee wins by now. It’s with the running game. Josh Heupel has called that his secret sauce. We’ll see if these five and beyond can work together in harmony off the bat, but it’s entirely possible that Tennessee was able to upgrade up front.
With a trio of backs ready to roll behind them, I’ll bet that Volunteer rushing attack really gets going quickly.
Joey Aguilar will hit a couple of deep shots after Tennessee establishes the run
Heupel’s big on the run game for a reason — it makes everything go. Tennessee is hoping it forces Syracuse to bring those safeties down, which will open up the downfield passing attack. At least that’s the plan. It’s been the plan since Heupel arrived in Knoxville, but the previous two quarterbacks were inconsistent at best at delivering the ball, despite the obvious physical traits.
In steps Joey Aguilar, who has thrown 56 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Will his more aggressive mindset pay off for the Tennessee offense? Maybe the more important question revolves around the wide receivers. Will any of these highly-touted prospects take the next step and become true go-to guys?
I think you’ll see Tennessee try and succeed deep a couple of times on Saturday. Syracuse is set to start a 17-year old at cornerback who reclassified to play for the Orange this season. You know he’ll have a target on his back early and often.
Look for Mike Matthews or Braylon Staley to shake free.
The defensive line will take over the game in the second half
Sure, Tennessee lost several important bodies this offseason up front, but that’s college football. The good news is that Rodney Garner’s pipeline is alive and well, set to reload and keep the same level of play. Dominic Bailey, Jaxson Moi, Bryson Eason, Tyre West and a host of others were a part of Tennessee’s game-wrecking rotation last season. They’ll all take a step or two up the depth chart this year.
Remember the NC State game last season? It was close for about two quarters. Remember that second half? The Tennessee front took over and completely ended the game. Even without Daevin Hobbs playing, I think Tennessee just eventually wears out the Syracuse offensive line and make life rough on Steve Angeli.
Score prediction: Tennessee 38, Syracuse 16
