48 Hours: What Did We Learn After Tennessee’s Victory Over Mississippi State

Tennessee is in good shape in a number of areas, but have some big questions in others.

Credit: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

No. 15 Tennessee survived on the road in Starkville to beat Mississippi State 41-34. With the victory, the Volunteers stayed put at No. 15 in the AP Poll, but they also avoided their first 0-2 start to begin SEC play in the Josh Heupel era at Tennessee. Now, the Vols get a much-needed rest with a bye week on the docket this week before Bobby Petrino, Arkansas’s new interim head coach, and the Razorbacks come to Knoxville in two weeks.

Last week, I wrote about how I really didn’t learn anything new about this year’s Tennessee football team after their 56-24 victory over UAB. Following the Vols’ road win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night, though, I did learn a few things about this year’s Tennessee football team.

I think.

Even without James Pearce Jr. and Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee’s defensive line has improved at rushing the passer. The biggest difference is that this year’s unit seems to have more guys capable of rushing the passer at a good-to-great level. Tennessee’s three-man rotation at LEO has all shown up at different points this season. Senior Joshua Josephs returned a fumble off a sack for six on Saturday. Sophomore Caleb Herring’s two best games this season have been against SEC competition, as he has four sacks through five games, and all four of them have come against SEC foes. Even redshirt freshman and former five-star recruit Jordan Ross has taken a step for Tennessee this season in an increased role in Tennessee’s third-down pass rush package. Even more impressive, defensive line coach Rodney Garner’s unit has been exceptional at rushing the passer, even with the injury issues in the interior with Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs to start the season. The Vols lead all of FBS in sacks with 20, and when you watch this unit and the waves that they come at you on the edge, especially now with senior SDE Tyre West playing his best football of his Vol career, it feels sustainable.

I’m going to be very interested to see how the Vols play the run in two weeks against an elite Arkansas ground game and an outstanding mobile quarterback in Taylen Green. The Hawgs are averaging 6.3 YPC on the ground, good for seventh in FBS, and the best unit Tennessee will have played to date. Give credit to Mississippi State’s backs, especially Fluff Bothwell, who carried the rock 23 times for 134 yards and gashed the Vols’ defense for three quarters and scored twice. The Vols are 38th in FBS in rush defense through five games, which, if that holds for the rest of the season, would be their worst mark since the 2021 season, when they finished 60th.

The defensive questions matter a whole lot less when Tennessee is throwing the football like they are through five games. This year’s team feels a lot closer to 2021 and 2022 than it does to 2023 or 2024, and a lot of that has to do with what senior quarterback Joey Aguilar is doing through the air. Aguilar had two long touchdowns wiped off the board in this ball game, one due to a brutal drop from sophomore Mike Matthews and the other due to an awful offensive pass interference call on yet another Chris Brazzell II big-time play down the field. And yet, the former Appalachian State quarterback still threw for 335 yards. Aguilar’s final touchdown drive in regulation, which ended with him running it in from six yards out, was a thing of beauty. Even with the drops and the two interceptions that bounced off his tight end’s hands, Aguilar was unfazed and did what he needed to do to win Tennessee the ball game on the road in the SEC.