On Sept. 12, Tennessee football hits the road to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta for the second game of its 2026 schedule. For the Vols, it’ll be exactly a week after they open the season against Furman.
For the Yellow Jackets, it opens the year with Colorado at home. However, instead of playing that game on the initially scheduled Saturday slot, it was announced on Monday that it has been moved up to Thursday, Sept. 3. That means Georgia Tech will have an extra two days to prepare for Tennessee after concluding its game with the Buffs.
While that aspect plays into the favor of the Yellow Jackets, the Vols have the advantage of playing a buy game to open the season. Playing an FCS team, Tennessee can dedicate part of its effort to preparing for Georgia Tech as early and often as it pleases.
The Yellow Jackets do get an extra couples days of rest from their opener, but if things go according to plan, UT’s starters will have the chance to sit out for a good bit of its opener anyway.
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The biggest question of the offseason for Tennessee right now is who will play quarterback. The Vols are currently preparing for a three-man quarterback battle between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
However, Joey Aguilar had his hearing for an additional year of eligibility this past Friday. The judge did not rule from the bench, though, with the decision likely to come at some point this week. If Aguilar is granted an injunction, he’d likely fill in as UT’s starter for the second-straight season.
Aguilar just finished his first season as Tennessee’s quarterback. The team finished 8-5 (4-4 SEC), but the offense took a big step back in the right direction. Aguilar posted an SEC-high in passing yards at 3,565 with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
