Things are cooking for Tennessee football and this team is 2-0 to start the season. It's just what everyone expected, but now the real work is about to start. Next up on the schedule is No. 6 Georgia and this is an early test people have been waiting for.
Tennessee is playing with a ton of swag and Neyland Stadium will be rockin' this weekend. As of this writing, however, Tennessee is an underdog by 4.5 points, with Vegas thinking Georgia will come out on top. This one feels like it's going to be a coin flip. With that said, there are several positives, but some negatives for the team in orange leading up to kickoff.
Tennessee vs. Georgia betting line shifts but there's still no faith in the Vols
5. Joey Aguilar is playing better than anyone expected (positive)
Things have been great with Joey Aguilar running the show for the Tennessee offense. In Week 2, he tossed for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Aguilar is showcasing his rocket for an arm and the offensive attack has been balanced for the Vols.
Against Georgia, however, it's easily going to be the toughest defense that Aguilar will face thus far this season - potentially in his career too. The hope is he can keep playing at a high level and prove the first two weeks of the campaign haven't been a fluke for him.
4. Tennessee injuries are certainly a concern for Week 3 (negative)
Things are going to be a bit tight at cornerback. We already knew that Rickey Gibson III was going to be out for Week 3, but Pete Thamel has just reported that All-American Jermod McCoy will also miss the meeting with UGA. Not having two of your top cornerbacks available for the SEC opener is rough.
Colton Hood and Ty Redmond will be the leaders at CB for this team, but not having McCoy and Gibson available stings. Up front, David Sanders Jr. is dealing with a shoulder injury too and it's totally up in the air if he'll play this weekend or not.
Sources: Tennessee will again be without its two starting corners Georgia this week, as both Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson are not expected back. McCoy is still recovering from his ACL tear in January, and Gibson (undisclosed) is out for an extended period of time. pic.twitter.com/PrOzi2YCbh
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 8, 2025
3. The ground game has been sensational for Tennessee (positive)
While the passing attack has been getting a ton of love and rightfully so, don't forget about how strong the rushing attack has been too. In the Week 2 win over ETSU, Duke transfer Star Thomas had another brilliant showing, rushing for 69 yards and three touchdowns.
DeSean Bishop added 68 yards on only three carries, while Duane Morris and Peyton Lewis also found the end zone. On the day, the Vols posted 276 total rushing yards. Yup, not a bad day at all. What will the RBs be able to get done against Georgia?
2. Drops from Tennessee WRs needs to be cleaned up ASAP (negative)
In the Week 1 win over Syracuse, the dropped balls from Tennessee wideouts were no question a bit of a concern. During practice leading up to the ETSU game, it was made a focus. However, things didn't seem to get much better there.
Against East Tennessee State, there were once again some drops posted in the first half by the Vols. This just can't happen against Georgia. If UT wants to pull off the upset, it needs to play close to perfect football. The pass-catchers letting Aguilar down due to drops has to be avoided.
1. There's just a different feeling surrounding Tennessee (positive)
Last but not least, there's a different kind of energy around this team, right? Maybe we're just seeing things, but the locker room feels like it's closer than ever and everyone is buying into what Heupel and the coaching staff are doing.
There was nothing but offseason drama in Knoxville due to Nico Iamaleava's exit, but the playmakers are rallying behind Aguilar and the locker room is attacking adversity head on. Georgia is the favorite for this one and a lot of people are expecting the Dawgs to cruise to a win. Tennessee doesn't care about that, as it has a 3-0 start on its mind.