ATLANTA, Ga. — Tennessee football opened up its 2025 season in the win column, knocking off Syracuse 45-26 on Saturday afternoon. The Vols jumped out to a sizable lead but took their foot off the gas as their defense struggled with injuries and to control the line of scrimmage.
Joey Aguilar did some nice things in his debut while Tennessee showed nice response at multiple times. Here’s four quick takeaways.
Tennessee Jumps On Syracuse In The First Quarter
As heavy favorites, there’s no better way to ensure a drama free victory than by jumping on your opponent out of the gates. That’s exactly what Tennessee did, jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the game’s first 15 minutes.
Tennessee received the opening kickoff and didn’t quite put its foot on the pedal but did drive 59 yards down the field and took an early 3-0 after its opening drive stalled in the red zone. The Vols finished the job on their second drive, using 12 plays to go 85 yards for the first touchdown of the season.
Syracuse picked up just one first down on its next drive and Tennessee’s offense quickly went to work moving into scoring range. But a Joey Aguilar miscue and fumble ended the drive. Tennessee scored the next play anyway when Nathan Robinson knocked the ball away from Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli and Colton Hood rumbled into the end zone on a scoop and score.
That gave Tennessee a 17-0 lead when the first quarter ended a few minutes later. Tennessee out-gained Syracuse 178-34 and 88-2 on the ground in the game’s opening quarter. Syracuse showed life in the second quarter but any real hopes of an upset were gone after the first 15 minutes.
Tennessee Responds Well To Adversity
The Colton Hood scoop-and-score was the perfect example of Tennessee’s defense picking up its offense after a mistake and immediately re-gaining the momentum. We saw the Vols’ defense do that often a season ago. Something we didn’t see often a season ago? Tennessee’s offense pick up the defense.
But we did see that in the 2025 season opener. Syracuse scored a touchdown early in the second quarter to cut Tennessee’s lead to 17-7. Tennessee responded quickly with Joey Aguilar hitting Braylon Staley right in stride for a 73-yard touchdown on a post route.
Later in the second quarter, Syracuse scored a touchdown with 1:55 to play in the half which cut Tennessee’s lead to 24-14. With Syracuse getting the ball to open the second half, it looked like things might get a bit interesting.
Tennessee had another strong response up its sleeve. DeSean Bishop broke a 47-yard run and Mike Matthews took a screen pass 16 yards leading to a six-play touchdown drive which pushed the Vols’ lead to 17 points at halftime.
Then lastly, Tennessee’s offense put together a nice 52-yard touchdown drive to put Syracuse away in the game’s final moments.
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Tennessee’s Defensive Depth Tested
Cornerback and defensive were the two spots on Tennessee’s defense where depth was an issue entering the season— in part due to injuries that they suffered in the offseason or preseason. Both were further tested in the opener.
Starting defensive tackle Jaxson Moi suffered an upper-body injury on the first drive of the game and did not return. Redshirt freahman Nathan Robinson was the first one in to replace him and performed well, stripping Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli which led to a Colton Hood scoop-and-score.
Behind Robinson, Jamal Wallace and Ethan Utley each got some run. Strong side defensive end Dominic Bailey also slid inside and played defensive tackle. The overall results were not great. Tennessee didn’t get gashed up front but they didn’t control the defensive line of scrimmage like expected.
At cornerback, Rickey Gibson exited the game with an injury in the second quarter and did not return. Freshman Ty Redmond mostly filled in and performed well. Really well considering he’s a true freshman. Then on the other side, Colton Hood was fantastic filling in for the injured Jermod McCoy.
What To Make Of Joey Aguilar
All eyes were on Joey Aguilar Saturday afternoon as he made the first start of his collegiate career. So what should we make of Aguilar’s debut? There were things to like with the beautiful deep ball to Staley at the top of the list.
But Aguilar was also inaccurate throwing the football at times. He completed 16 of his 28 pass attempts and consistently was high on throws. Now, Tennessee’s receivers didn’t help him out at times and dropped some catchable throws. But it is at least something to note.
Overall, the transfer had strong command of Tennessee’s offense and did a solid job operating things. Aguilar also showed a little bit of ability to run the ball and had a nice touchdown pass to Star Thomas on a broken play. Interestingly, Tennessee didn’t lean on wide splits as much as they have in the past.
Aguilar finished the game throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns while adding 34 yards on the ground. He also fumbled.
