Tennessee exploded out of the gates to a 21-7 lead over Georgia last Saturday when the two rivals squared off in Knoxville. The Volunteers’ offense was rolling as Joey Aguilar completed 100% of his first 14 attempts for 213 yards and two touchdowns. He also found the endzone with his legs in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Tennessee’s offense then hit a lull, though. After the Vols went up 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, Tennessee didn’t rack up any points until late in the third quarter as they watched Georgia take the lead on a 20-0 run.
But even as Tennessee’s offense struggled to get the ball moving in the middle of the game, the ship never sank. A large part of that was thanks to the captain of the boat, Joey Aguilar. The transfer quarterback kept his composure on the sideline and encouraged his teammates to keep their heads up. Aguilar knew it was just a matter of time before things got rolling again.
Tennessee running back Star Thomas detailed Aguilar’s in-game leadership during the slow stretch against Georgia in the second and third quarters.
“I mean, he never was like, he never overthought the moment,” Thomas said on Tuesday. “He always, like, when we were down, he’ll come and be like, ‘calm down, we got this.’ You know what I’m saying? ‘Next play, next drive, somebody’s going to make a play.’ Like, he always was saying that on the sideline. And when you’ve got a quarterback like that, man, it’s hard not to go out there and play hard for him, because you know what he’s going to go out there and do.”
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Aguilar’s attitude paid off. Tennessee began exchanging blows with the Georgia defense as it reestablished itself in the game. Aguilar found wide receiver Chris Brazzell at the end of the third quarter to re-take the lead, 28-27, and then found wide receiver Braylon Staley in the endzone less than five minutes later.
While Tennessee didn’t end up winning the game, Aguilar had his offense in a position to compete in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He even set up kicker Max Gilbert with a game-winning field goal try in the closing seconds of the fourth.
Aguilar’s leadership was on full display. It’s not surprising that he didn’t lose his cool during the moment, either. The battle-tested quarterback has been through several obstacles in his football journey to where he’s at, and used his veteran experience to keep his teammates encouraged and motivated on the sidelines.
As Tennessee continues to fight for a potential playoff spot in the coming months, it’ll continue to face challenges. The Vols still have road matchups against Alabama and Florida and ranked home games against Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. But all signs point to Aguilar being the veteran leader that Tennessee needs this season, and perhaps didn’t always have last season. While a loss stings, the lessons learned could potentially pay dividends down the road.
Check out Star Thomas’s full Tuesday press conference below:
