Tennessee football: Top five non-SEC stars Vols have to face in 2022

In a way, Tennessee football got a break with non-conference play. The Vols don’t face any team with returning off-the-chart skill players, and few players from all of their foes are on first team for their respective conferences this preseason. However, there are some exceptions, and a lot of these teams have potential.

As we get set to take a look at the best non-conference players the Vols will face this year, that unknown potential is the scariest for them. Their most imposing foe has a ton of untapped potential at the skill positions, and even more elite talent is in the trenches.

Taking that into account, not having big names on a team doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. The Vols face their best FCS foe in years, and they proved in 2019 they are capable of losses to bad Group of Five teams. Winning all four games is a huge part of this year’s goal. Here are the top five non-SEC stars Tennessee football has to face in 2022.

6’5″ 260 pounds

Last year was the breakout campaign for Habakkuk Baldonado. He did it coming off an injury in 2020 and after spending his first two years as a reserve with the Pittsburgh Panthers. Evenmore relevant here, Baldonado’s breakout game specifically came against the Vols, where he had two sacks and forced and recovered a fumble.

That set the tone for the year, as Baldonado would go on to register 12 tackles for a loss and nine sacks. He finished with 41 total tackles, 25 of which were solo. Now, he enters his redshirt senior season with two years of eligibility left looking to build off of what he did.

Given how Tennessee football struggled in pass protection against Pitt last year, Baldonado is going to be a force for them. Add in the rotation they have at tackle with Cade Mays’ departure, which includes moving Darnell Wright back to right tackle and having open competition at left tackle, and they have to watch out for Baldonado even more this year.