If you can’t make it to Atlanta for Tennessee Football’s regular season opener, make sure to grab a good seat on the couch that Saturday morning.
SEC Network revealed this week that the SEC Nation pregame show will set up shop in front of Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Tennessee-Syracuse matchup to kick off the 2025 season.
The event will feature The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday from 3-7 p.m. ET, Marty & McGee on Saturday from 9-10 a.m. ET, and SEC Nation from 10 a.m. to Noon ET on Saturday.
The Volunteers and the Orange are then set to get things kicked off immediately after the airing of the show at Noon ET on Saturday in the home of the Atlanta Falcons.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of orange inside of that stadium when we kick off,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said during SEC Media Days this past week. “Vol Nation, we need to make sure it’s the right shade of orange.”
With 43 days until the game between the non-conference foes, Tennessee is nearly a two-touchdown favorite to beat the Orange and start the season on the right note.
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See you then! 🤝#GBO 🍊 | @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/ONqcJK6b7Y
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) July 16, 2025
There’s a lot that’s going to happen between now and then, though.
After a trip to the College Football Playoffs last season, Tennessee is looking to keep it’s momentum going heading into Josh Heupel’s fifth season on Rocky Top.
The biggest storyline, undoubtedly, will be the Volunteers’ true three-man quarterback battle that’s set to take place during fall camp. The competition will consist of transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar (who missed all of spring camp while with UCLA at the time), redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger, and true freshman George MacIntyre. Aguilar’s previous experience at App State potentially makes him the early favorite in the race, but he’ll need to get up to speed quickly. Ultimately, it’s impossible to say at this moment. There’s no counting out second-year quarterback Jake Merklinger, who makes up for his lack of passing attempts with prior knowledge of the Tennessee system and his teammates.
Either way, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is excited to see it unfold.
“They’re doing a great job in the weight room, but leadership, developing relationships with our guys. It’s constant growth from them,” Heupel said during SEC Media Days about the QB competition. “They’ve done a really good job in the meeting room, being cohesive, caring about each other. I think that’s really important. Strength of one position can never just be one guy. As we’re getting to the back end of the summer, certainly as we kickoff training camp, those guys are gonna have an opportunity to go compete and best players are gonna play.”
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee offseason coverage.
