The dawn of a new season is here as Tennessee football begins its 2025 campaign Saturday afternoon against Syracuse in Atlanta. Tennessee is 4-0 in season openers under Josh Heupel and is looking to keep that trend going as they look to return to the College Football Playoffs.
Each week, the RTI team will provide game predictions for Tennessee’s matchup. We start with the Syracuse Orange.
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Ric Butler
This first game of the season for Tennessee is an interesting one. Obviously, it won’t be a finished product. But I do think it gives us a good starting point on what this team looks like, what its identity could be, and where it needs to improve early in the season. Unlike some teams that are playing cupcake games in Week 1, I think this is a good team for Tennessee to play and gain some confidence early into the season.
I like what Matt Reed said on his RTI Game Preview on Thursday. I can see Tennessee wanting to run the ball 50 times if the game allows them to on Saturday. Not only is that to ease in new starter Joey Aguilar into his role, but because the Vols’ trio of running backs looks to be the best part of Tennessee’s offense. I think Tennessee can control the game on the ground and in the trenches and not let anything get too risky, which is one of Syracuse’s only paths to winning in my eyes.
On the defensive side of the ball, it’s just about tackling and not giving the Orange any explosive plays down the field. If Syracuse is throwing the ball with an early deficit, Tennessee just needs to contain, wrap up, and tackle the receivers. I don’t see Syracuse’s offense being too much of a threat, especially in the trenches, so if they turn to the pass game with Johntay Cook and Demetres Samuel Jr., Tennessee just has to be prepared to make quick tackles and limit anything big down the field.
As always, this is going to be an interesting one to see rotations after a few different battles took place during UT Fall Camp. It’ll be exciting to break all of that down on the website and the RTI: Press Pass podcast next week. At the end of the day, though, I’m going with Tennessee fairly comfortably. I think the two-touchdown line is pretty good, but I’m going with UT at a higher margin. Either way, we’ll have plenty to break down after returning home to Knoxville.
Prediction: Tennessee 34, Syracuse 14
Ryan Schumpert
Tennessee and Syracuse are each coming off successful 2024 seasons with lessened expectations entering the new year. For Tennessee, those expectations are an eight or nine win regular season. For Syracuse, it’s about making it back to a bowl game after winning 10 games a season ago.
Offensively, all eyes are on new quarterback Joey Aguilar in his first game running Josh Heupel’s offense. Turnovers were a major issue for him at Appalachian State last season and the path to a Syracuse upset largely revolves around Tennessee turning the football over. The good news for Aguilar? Syracuse’s defense struggled mightily stopping the run a season ago and Tennessee should be able to lean on its stable of backs. The question for me is two fold— does Syracuse roll its safeties into the box to try and take the run away? And if they don’t, is Tennessee still aggressive trying to create chunk plays? After two years of struggling to do so, that’s one of my biggest questions entering the season.
Defensively, Tennessee is replacing its top two pass rushers from a season ago and is down its All-American cornerback due to injury. They’re facing a Syracuse team that threw the ball more than any other a season ago. Now, it’s a new look roster with first-year starter Steve Angeli and a group of new receivers. But Syracuse has a good deal of confidence in those receivers and won’t stick to the run if it’s not working. Colton Hood and Rickey Gibson must be ready to go on the outside. Likewise, we’re going to find out about Tennessee’s pass rush early.
Both teams have a lot of new pieces which typically leads to some sloppiness earlier in the season. The quarterbacks seem like a relative wash. Give me the team that’s better on the line of scrimmage. That’s undoubtedly Tennessee.
Prediction: Tennessee 31, Syracuse 14
Ryan Sylvia
If you go down the list position by position, I’m not sure if there’s a single spot you can confidently say Syracuse is better at than Tennessee. At the end of the day, that’ll be the difference on Saturday. Despite some of the valid questions about the Vols once SEC play arrives, the talent disparity with the Orange should be more than enough.
Defensively, it’s hard to see Tennessee not taking over the game. The Vols are tasked with replacing a bit of production up front, but a lot of the secondary and both starting linebackers return. It’s the interior of the defensive line that does raise some questions, but I’m curious to see how much of a rotation UT employs there and how often they simply slide an edge rusher in to help alleviate those potential woes. Ultimately, with how much Syracuse has to replace on that side of the ball, it’s tough for me to see the Orange finding the end zone more than twice, if they even do at all.
On the other hand, Tennessee has a lot to prove offensively. I think it’s safe to assume the run game will be fine. The pass game is a different story. What will Joey Aguilar look like? Can he be accurate and limit turnovers? Can the group of unproven receivers step up? Will the new-look offensive line hold its own? How involved will the tight ends be? I think it’ll look fine in the opener, but I’d also be willing to bet a few of these questions will still be unanswered heading into next week.
With all that said, the Vols shouldn’t have too much of an issue on Saturday. Really, one of the only ways I see UT losing this game is if they get careless with the ball and set up Syracuse with optimal field position. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this looked a bit like the 2024 Oklahoma game in some ways, where Tennessee strikes early and falls back on the defense to coast to a comfortable win.
Prediction: Tennessee 27, Syracuse 10
