Tennessee football: 3 things I want to see from the Vols against Syracuse
By Ethan Stone
Published:
The national nightmare is finally over. Call your friends and family. Throw a party. College football, and by extension the Tennessee Volunteers, is officially back.
The Volunteers have had a tumultuous offseason, to put it lightly. For those of you who live under a rock, former 5-star passer Nico Iamaleava is out while gunslinger Joey Aguilar is in. The Vols replace most of their offensive production from last season, but fans can rest easy knowing Tim Banks’ defense is set to be a weapon once again as we enter Year 5 of the Josh Heupel era.
Unlike last season, the Vols don’t open the year with a gimme game. Syracuse is likely to take a step back from its stellar first season under head coach Fran Brown, but the Orange are still primed to be a bottom-end ACC program after losing a lot to the NFL Draft and transfer portal. The Vols are favored (-13.5 on FanDuel), but it’s hard to predict how polished the team will look when it takes the field Saturday afternoon.
Here are 3 things I want to see from the Vols (or questions I’d like to see answered) against Syracuse:
1. Literally anything from Boo Carter
Yeah, that about sums it up.
For starters, we don’t know for 100% certain that Carter is even going to see the field. I’d be more surprised if he didn’t play Saturday, but how (if at all) will Heupel address his offseason shenanigans? Or has he already?
Was being sidelined during fall practice enough to satisfy the Vols’ head coach? The vibe I took from Heupel’s recent comments about Carter is that he has done everything asked of him, and he seems to have responded well to the actions taken by Tennessee. If true, good on you, Boo Carter.
Because I’ll tell you what, Tennessee could sure use him on the field. There’s been no word on Jermod McCoy’s status for Saturday (I’d be surprised if he plays), which means Carter will definitely have a spot in the secondary alongside Rickey Gibson, Colton Hood and company.
Furthermore, who returns punts if Carter isn’t out there? Finally, will Carter see the field on offense at all? The shifty sophomore is a playmaker and can absolutely contribute on both sides of the ball, but it’s tough to tell what his role will be at noon on Saturday.
2. A comfortable Joey Aguilar against a good Syracuse secondary
Syracuse was absolutely ravaged by the transfer portal this past offseason. Fran Brown’s 10-3 Orange squad impressed during his first year as head coach, but he’ll have his work cut out for him in looking to continue that success into 2025.
Why is that relevant to start a section surrounding Tennessee transfer QB Joey Aguilar? Well, Syracuse features inexperience and turnover just about everywhere except for the defensive secondary.
That part of the defense should be a strength for the Orange this season. Even after losing a few players to the NFL Draft, their secondary features returners such as Duce Chestnut and Devin Grant as well as incoming athletic wonder Demetres Samuel Jr., who will likely see time on both sides of the ball Saturday.
Brown played cornerback for Cincinnati in 2008 and has served as an assistant coach focusing on the secondary for college programs such as Georgia, Rutgers and Temple. In other words, he knows its stuff when it comes to the defensive backfield. This will be a very real test for Aguilar early in the season.
It’s not all grim, though. Syracuse’s pass rush is a major question mark heading into Saturday, which means Aguilar should have enough time to run the offense without defenders in his face a second after the snap. Hopefully, anyway. He’ll need to be accurate and smart with the football — the latter of which has been a well-documented weak spot for the Appalachian State transfer.
On top of that, how well did Aguilar adjust to his rollercoaster of an offseason? Josh Heupel has put his full support behind the veteran QB, but what will he look like when he steps out on the field Saturday? If the answer is anything better than “not a complete disaster” the Vols should win big.
3. Who will take the majority of carries in the backfield?
The Vols are, first and foremost, a power rushing team.
Dylan Sampson was a monster for Tennessee’s backfield last year — the MVP of the offense by a wide margin — but he’s now off to the NFL. DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis are back, and incoming Duke transfer Star Thomas is sure to see a lot of carries as well. My question is this: What will the RB rotation look like?
All 3 of the names listed above could start and succeed at running back on Saturday. Bishop is probably the most polished in the group, but Lewis has the highest ceiling. Thomas is a powerful back who can hopefully help Aguilar in the passing game as a receiver and in pass protection, which wasn’t exactly a strength for either Bishop or Lewis last season.
I find it hard to believe one of the 3 listed above will take the overwhelming majority of the carries. I think the split is more likely to look something like 30/30/30/10, especially in Game 1, with 10% of production coming from Justin Baker or Daune Morris. Perhaps it’ll look something like 40/25/25/10. If that were the case, who will see the most carries by game’s end?
A lot of Vols fans would love for the answer to be Peyton Lewis, but I’m partial to Bishop myself. He’s primed for a potential breakout year after coming off an injury that limited his effectiveness last season. But when he did see the field, Bishop rushed for 6.15 yards per carry — which is 2nd among returning SEC rushers, only behind Kentucky‘s Jamarion Wilcox (a name to watch out for this year, by the way).
We’ll know for sure tomorrow afternoon.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
