The Fearless Prediction is back and better than ever! We got the season started by picking the Syracuse game correctly and see no reason why we can’t go back to back with this week’s contest against ETSU.
The SEC finally made the decision to expand to 9 conference games, starting in 2026. The league already requires 1 contest annually against a Power 4 conference opponent so that leaves only 2 “paycheck” games for the Vols each season. ETSU will receive $575,000 to make the 100 minute bus ride from Johnson City to Knoxville. The next time this game could be played is in 2028, so get those VCRs rolling!
Tennessee wasn’t perfect in its 45-26 win over Syracuse, but there’s a lot for the Vols to build on. City College of San Francisco/Diablo Valley College/Appalachian State/UCLA transfer QB Joey Aguilar went 16-for-28 for 247 yards and 3 TDs against the Orange. He connected on a deep ball, a 73-yard TD pass to Braylon Staley. Big plays like that one didn’t happen very often a year ago. Aguilar also ran for 34 yards. Those numbers were better than what Tennessee fans saw out of Nico Iamaleava most weekends.
The 3-headed monster of Star Thomas, DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis combined for 212 rushing yards and 2 TDs.
Defensively, the Vols got a lot of pressure on Syracuse QB Steve Angeli, sacking him 5 times. They also forced him into a fumble, which was returned by Colton Hood for a score. Junior LB Arion Carter led all players with 9 tackles. Senior edge rusher Joshua Josephs had 7 tackles. Both of those guys are gonna make a lot of money in the NFL next year, so enjoy watching them while you can, Tennessee fans.
As for ETSU, they got off to a great start to the 2025 season with a 45-17 win over Murray State. The Buccaneers rushed for nearly 400 yards in that game. Senior RB Devontae Houston scored twice and picked up 128 yards on the ground, averaging over 9 yards per carry. In the passing game, 7 different receivers made at least 1 catch, as Cade McNamara threw for 146 yards on 12 of 17 attempts.
Wait. Cade McNamara? Yes indeed! The same Cade McNamara who spent 4 years at Michigan, leading them to the Big Ten title in 2021. The same Cade McNamara who spent 2 years at Iowa and then transferred to ETSU last January.
This Tennessee/ETSU game is a matchup of 7th-year QBs. Stay in school, kids.
On defense, senior LB Ty Anderson had 8 tackles against the Racers, including 2.5 TFL’s.
Next week the Vols will host Georgia in what will be Tennessee’s biggest home game of the 2025 season. Josh Heupel is trying to beat UGA for the first time in 5 tries. Tennessee is hoping to snap what is now an 8-game losing streak against the Bulldogs. The Vols have been able to slay the dragon against its 2 other main rivals, going a combined 4-4 against Florida and Alabama under Heupel, but not Georgia.
Heupel would like to get his starters out of this game as soon as possible to keep them healthy for the Georgia game.
Back in 2018, the Vols beat ETSU 59-3 in the only previous meeting between these schools. You should expect a similar result this time as well.
Fearless Prediction: Tennessee 52, ETSU 10
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Mark Nagi has covered Tennessee athletics for over 20 years. He is the author of “Decade of Dysfunction,” an in-depth look at all that led to the crazy coaching search of 2017 at Tennessee. The book is available on Amazon.
