3 Thoughts on No. 22 Tennessee’s 72-17 Win Over ETSU
No. 22 Tennessee begins 2025 in similar fashion to 2024, a team that went 10-2 and made the College Football Playoff.
No. 22 Tennessee thoroughly dismantled ETSU 72-17 inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the Volunteers’ 2025 home opener. The Vols accounted for 717 total net yards in the ball game. Tennessee averaged 7.2 yards per play, rushed for over 200 yards on the ground again, had 41 first downs, and were a perfect 10-for-10 in the red zone with eight of those trips resulting in touchdowns, too. The Vols have now outscored FCS & G6 opponents in their last four meetings 268-20.
The Vols move to 2-0 with their victory over the Bucs. Let’s dive into my three biggest takeaways the morning after a Vols win.
The Vols are No. 4 in FBS in points per game through two games. Only USC, Texas Tech, and Oregon have put up more points than Tennessee. The Vols are tied with the Razorbacks for the most touchdowns in the SEC to start the season. However, it is important to put all of this into context: Tennessee opened last year against an FCS and ACC school, too, and scored 120 points. This year, they scored 117. The offense does look and feel different, though. We’ll obviously get a much clearer picture on what’s real and what’s not with this offense against No. 4 Georgia next Saturday, but for now, all we can do is work with what we’ve seen thus far. We’ve seen new offense wrinkles. We’ve seen a better offensive line, even without five-star true freshman David Sanders Jr. We’ve seen more production out of the wide receivers versus the tight ends in the passing game. Last year, Miles Kitselman was the early revelation. This year, it’s the three starting wideouts. The least surprising early offensive stat is that Tennessee is once again averaging more than 5.0 YPC on the ground as a team through two weeks, even without their SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Dylan Sampson. Joey Aguilar, Braylon Staley, Chris Brazzell II, and Mike Matthews have all looked the part a sixth of the way through the season. Offensively, it certainly does feel more sustainable and balanced than last year. Check back in with me after the Vols’ offense does battle with Georgia and travels to Mississippi State in a few weeks. Don’t apologize for another hot offensive start if you’re a Vol fan, but maybe don’t look too much into it just yet, either.
Sophomore Boo Carter did not reach the endzone on any of his four punt returns on Saturday afternoon, but man did he come close. It was a welcome sight to have the super-talented blue-chipper back returning punts for Tennessee against ETSU. Carter had four returns for 94 yards. The Chattanooga native averaged 24 yards per return and took one back 40 yards and nearly a score. Last week against Syracuse, the Vols had one return for two yards. Last season at Georgia, Carter was a missed block on a Bulldog punter away from putting Tennessee up 14-0 early on the Bulldogs. Who knows how Carson Beck and Smart’s team would have responded being down in that kind of hole against a top-10 defense? There is a very real chance that Carter could play a pivotal role again against the Bulldogs next Saturday, too. He, along with Matthews, is elite at making defenders whiff in space. Tennessee didn’t need Carter to flip the field multiple times against the Bucs to escape with a victory on Saturday. Even still, there is absolutely a realistic scenario for that to be the case against the Bulldogs next Saturday.
Aguilar has had a clean pocket on 78 percent of his dropbacks through two games for Tennessee. With Aguilar having just two and a half months to get acclimated to Heupel’s system, the former UCLA and Appalachian State quarterback needed the new-look Vols offensive line to thrive out of the gate. That’s been the case, even with redshirt freshman Jesse Perry sliding over to right tackle for both games. Outside of one bad snap on Saturday, Notre Dame transfer Sam Pendleton has picked up right where Cooper Mays left off. The Vols’ offensive line hasn’t given up a sack, but more importantly, Aguilar is getting pressured on average once every five dropbacks. Even when he has been pressured, he has thrown three touchdowns on 13 attempts and no interceptions. Aguilar has been at his best pushing the ball down the field, with his highlight this week being Matthews stealing one from freshman Travis Smith Jr. for six in what looked like a Halftime Hail Mary Heave situation. His best PFF grade by distance through two games is 20-plus yards down the field. On the flipside, former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava had a PFF grade of 45 when pressured last season, a stark contrast from his 90 PFF grade when kept clean. A lot of what will ultimately separate Aguilar from the Vols’ previous quarterback will be whether or not those big plays down the field will come when pressured by the likes of Georgia next week. Perhaps most importantly, Tennessee’s starting offensive line has grades over 70, per PFF, through two weeks; only one Tennessee starter on the offensive line finished last season with a PFF grade over 70 in Mays. A lot of the offseason talk was about the Vols’ quarterback, wide receivers, running backs, and even the tight ends. However, it’s the offensive line and their hot start that has me most optimistic about this Tennessee offense this season.
What did you think of Tennessee’s victory over the Bucs on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium?