After a season of immense first-half struggles on offense for Tennessee football, it took just two drives for the Vols to find the end zone in the 2025 season opener. With 6:02 left in the first quarter, Peyton Lewis hammered a linebacker, Derek McDonald, and piled his way for a score. This gave the Vols a 10-0 lead.
The drive lasted three minutes and 35 seconds and was a total of 12 plays. After starting at its own 15, Tennessee marched 85 yards down the field for the score. Lewis was the back for the entire stretch. DeSean Bishop was the back in the first drive, which ended in a field goal.
The first play was a Lewis carry that went seven yards. Then, quarterback Joey Aguilar scrambled for a gain of 25 yards, ending with a lowered shoulder. With a fresh set of downs, Aguilar connected with Chris Brazzell for a gain of seven. His next pass to Mike Matthews fell incomplete.
On third down, Lewis ran for a first down to move the chains. However, Aguilar’s targets to Braylon Staley and Ethan Davis both fell incomplete. On third-and-10, Aguilar hit Brazzell for a gain of 18 to save the drive.
After a gain of one on a Lewis rush, an offsides jump gave UT a free five yards. Lewis used the chance to run for seven more yards to set up first-and-goal. On the first play, Aguilar threw a ball in front of Miles Kitselman, who made an incredible catch to put the ball at the two-yard line.
This made way for the Lewis rush. After the drive, he had posted 22 yards on five carries and the score.
Peyton Lewis runs through the LB. Weight room pic.twitter.com/Ah9U8t6afP
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) August 30, 2025
Follow here for updates throughout the game.
