Before kickoff arrives for the Tennessee football team against Syracuse, head coach Josh Heupel is keeping things pretty close to the vest. He's not releasing a depth chart until Saturday, which has people guessing over several different spots.
On top of whether or not Boo Carter will start and who the QB2 will be, people are still wondering who's going to be snapping the ball to new signal-caller Joey Aguilar. There was a camp battle going on between Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton and William Satterwhite. It remains unknown who the starting center will be, but everyone will know for sure by Saturday morning.
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Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton is the favorite to be Tennessee's starting center
Late in camp, the feeling was that Pendleton took a bit of a lead in the matchup with Satterwhite. With Pendleton potentially starting at center, it has opened the door for Jesse Perry to claim the spot at right guard - Pendleton was also in the mix to play there.
While nothing has been confirmed and Heupel won't make things known until Saturday, plenty of signs are pointing to this being Tennessee's offensive line in front of Aguilar to take on Fran Brown and his team: left tackle Lance Heard, left guard Wendell Moe Jr., center Pendleton, right guard Perry and right tackle David Sanders Jr.
That's a loaded group and the depth behind them is strong too. At center alone, even if Satterwhite loses out on the starting role, he's still going to see plenty of playing time this season and he'll be trusted when Heupel calls on him to make plays in the trenches.
Soon enough, the Vols will take the field and all of the speculation will come to an end. There are surely going to be some growing pains with so many new faces and starters in '25, but it can still prove to be a season to remember on both sides of the ball.
The showdown with Syracuse truly can't get here soon enough for Heupel and his entire coaching staff. A convincing win is what's needed to help build this team's confidence with UGA around the corner in Week 3, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.