In a shocker that Tennessee football surely didn't see coming, the Vols will be facing an Arkansas team this weekend that's going to be led by Bobby Petrino. Wait, what year is this? With Sam Pittman getting fired, Petrino indeed has taken over as the interim head coach.
Tennessee vs Alabama kickoff time announces and it's bad news for the Vols
With this being the only game that Tennessee is going to be playing in Knoxville this month, fans are going to be packing the stadium like usual and making a ton of noise. Well, Petrino has given UT supporters extra motivation to be loud and proud, as he hinted that he's not too worried about the Knoxville environment being too much of a problem for his team. Oh Bobby, you're gonna regret this:
Arkansas Interim Head Coach Bobby Petrino does not sound concerned about the noise inside Neyland Stadium:
— FOX Sports Knoxville (@FOXSportsKnox) October 6, 2025
“I feel like we’ll go in there and handle it well. I’m optimistic we’ll go in there and handle it well,” said Petrino.
This is all the more incentive for it to be Neyland… pic.twitter.com/sdwrwU3aOC
Bobby Petrino just gave Tennessee fans extra motivation to be loud at Neyland
With how passionate Vols fans can be, you already know they're going to see this quote from Petrino and run with it. Think people in orange need another reason to rattle the opposition by screaming their hearts out on third down? Nope, not at all.
Tennessee will have extra motivation too, as no one has forgotten about the Razorbacks taking down the Vols last season. It was a stunning upset, but the No. 12 Vols are going to be ready to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself this time around.
Defensively, a bit of a bummer has arrived with Pete Nakos reporting that All-American cornerback Jermod McCoy is not expected to play vs. Arkansas. There was hope that he'd get back on the field following the bye, but now it'd be a surprise if that ends up being the case. Colton Hood and Ty Redmond will remain the starters on the outside.
Offensively, it's going to be the Joey Aguilar show, as he'll be looking to keep balling out for Josh Heupel and Co. Aguilar has been one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC and he's going to give Petrino and his defense all sorts of issues. The Arkansas offense is going to have a tough time keeping up with Aguilar points wise and the crowd noise will make things rough for him too whether he wants to admit it or not.