Tennessee defensive tackle Jaxson Moi is out for the Vols’ home opener against ETSU, head coach Josh Heupel told the media Monday afternoon. Heupel did not provide a full time frame for when Moi would return but the update is not an overall positive one.
Moi suffered an upper-body injury just three plays into Tennessee’s 45-26 season-opening win over Syracuse Saturday afternoon and did not return in the game. After playing rotational snaps a season ago, Moi is stepping into a bigger role as a full-time starter.
Tennessee was already thin at defensive tackle entering the 2025 season and the injury bug has bit them in a major way already. Daevin Hobbs suffered a foot injury during fall camp and will miss most, if not all, of the first month of the season.
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Combine Moi and Hobbs injuries and Bryson Eason was Tennessee’s only proven defensive tackle playing in the season opener. A number of Vols saw increased roles with both sidelined for the majority of the game. Nathan Robinson played 28 snaps, despite battling some minor injuries himself, and performed well with a strip sack.
Former JUCO transfer Jamal Wallace played 22 snaps while Ethan Utler played 13 snaps. Strongside defensive end Dominic Bailey also slid inside and played a good deal of defensive tackle against Syracuse. Eason played 61 snaps against the Orange— well over his season-high from a year ago.
The Vols’ defensive line looked worse in their 2025 opener than they did during a stout 2024 season for defensive coordinator Tim Banks’ unit. Syracuse totaled 377 total yards against Tennessee, creating 274 yards through the air and 103 yards on the ground while scoring four touchdowns.
Moi played 246 total snaps as a third team defensive tackle for Tennessee last year, recording eight tackles, two sacks and four total quarterback hurries.
Kickoff between Tennessee and ETSU is at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. The SEC Network+ and ESPN+ are both streaming the instate matchup.
