Magic No. 40: Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s offense set program record in UAB win
By Ethan Stone
Published:
The number 40 is especially relevant for Tennessee football following its 56-24 win over UAB.
For starters, Week 4’s win over the Blazers represents the 40th win of Josh Heupel’s career at Tennessee. When made aware of this fact, Heupel, as usual, chose the humble route and credited the folks around him. “The best part of my day is when I walk in there and I’m with our guys,” Heupel said postgame. “It’s a place that doesn’t feel like work. It’s a place you love to be and you get a chance to do what you love, which is compete.”
And compete Tennessee has, especially so on offense. Here’s where the number 40 comes in once again. For the first time in program history, Tennessee’s offense has scored at least 40 points across the first 4 games of the season. The Vols dropped 45 against Syracuse, 72 against ETSU, 41 against Georgia and 56 against UAB Saturday afternoon.
It doesn’t stop there, though. The Vols have also put up 450 total yards of offense across each of their first 4 games – a first dating back to at least 1995.
It’s been a mind-boggling start to the season for Tennessee, all things considered. The Vols lost their starting quarterback, running back, 3 top receivers and several members along the offensive line from last season, but this has so far been the best offensive start of the Heupel era – even better than 2022 when Hendon Hooker was championed as a Heisman candidate before his late-season injury. We’ll see if Joey Aguilar can keep Tennessee’s momentum strong heading into the bulk of its SEC schedule.
Speaking of, it’s obvious at this point that Aguilar is the real deal, too. With his 218 passing yards today, Aguilar continued his streak of passing for over 200 yards, which he’s now done in all 28 of his D1 starts.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
