The Fearless Prediction is off to a roaring start this season, helped in part by a missed FG and some shaky coaching decisions in last weekend’s Tennessee-Georgia game. But there’s no time to rest for the FP, nor for the Vols. This weekend, Tennessee looks to get back on track with a game against UAB at Neyland Stadium.
While college football fans witness the mess that is UCLA football on a weekly basis, it becomes more and more clear that Tennessee won that QB trade in a major way. Nico Iamaleava is in Los Angeles starting for one of the worst teams in the sport while Joey Aguilar is in Knoxville, putting up impressive numbers for a Playoff contender.
Aguilar has thrown for over 900 total yards in 3 games, including a 371-yard passing day against Georgia. That’s no small feat against a Kirby Smart defense. He accounted for 5 total TDs in that overtime loss, and now sees his name on a few Heisman Trophy finalist betting boards. However, that factoid is just for fun. The Fearless Prediction believes a Tennessee player wins the Heisman the same day that the sun sets in the East.
Aguilar is the leader of the nation’s 6th best scoring offense (52.7 points per game) and total offense (568.7 yards per game). But he’s not doing it alone. Chris Brazzell II, Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews have emerged as one of the best pass catching trios in the SEC, with a combined 51 catches for 794 yards and 8 TDs. And while the running game wasn’t a huge factor against Georgia, the Vols are still averaging 210 yards on the ground per contest, with Star Thomas and DeSean Bishop leading the way.
Defensively, Tennessee’s Arion Carter is up to a team-high 27 tackles, with Joshua Josephs leading the Vols with 3 sacks on the season. UT fans can only wonder what might have been had defensive backs Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson been healthy enough to go against Georgia.
It’s Fall Family Weekend on The Hill, as students attempt to show their parents a good time, proving that their tuition monies are being put to good use by treating them to watching Trent Dilfer coach a football game.
The Dilfer experiment has gone so poorly that some Blazers fans are wishing their program was still dissolved. Since the football team was reborn in 2017, they averaged 8.3 wins in 6 seasons under Bill Clark and Bryant Vincent. Under Dilfer, the Blazers only won 7 games total in 2023 and 2024. UAB is 9-18 in a little over 2 years with Dilfer at the helm, and while the Blazers are 2-1 this season, those wins have come against Alabama State (FCS) and Akron (FBS doormat).
UAB is led by QB Jalen Kitna, one of only 3 starters who returned this season in Birmingham. In a parallel universe, Kitna could have been a Vol, but he turned down a scholarship offer from Tennessee in 2020. He chose Florida instead, mostly sitting on the bench for 2 years. Now in his second season at UAB, Kitna is putting up good numbers against lesser competition. This season he’s completed 70% of his passes for nearly 300 yards per game, with 6 TDs and 3 INTs. Corri Milliner and Iverson Hooks are his go to guys, combining for 33 catches, 497 yards and 5 scores. Austin Peay/UTEP transfer redshirt senior Jevon Jackson is rushing for over 90 yards a game.
Defensively, safety Pierre Royster leads the team in tackles with 23. LB Chris Burge leads the team in sacks with 2.5.
The trappiest of trap games for the Vols is coming up next weekend in Starkville, and the Fearless Prediction might type up 800 words on that topic alone. But we won’t look ahead just yet, and neither will the Vols. Much like the ETSU game, the Vols will be looking to rest their starters as quickly as possible.
Fearless Prediction: Tennessee 49, UAB 10
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.
