ATLANTA – Rapid reaction from Tennessee football’s 45-26 victory over Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 30:
Top takeaways
-Much of the game, this was a muscle-flex of a season opener for Tennessee against an opponent that has talent and won 10 games last season. Syracuse didn’t do enough until it was too late, looking very much like the lil’ Orange against the stronger, faster Big Orange on the other sideline while falling behind by 24 points. This was the type of test that could’ve been tricky if the Vols weren’t ready. But they were. Especially in the one area everyone was sure to be watching most:
-All eyes were on newly arrived Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar, of course, and no one truly knew what to expect. It started out about as well as could’ve been hoped for Aguilar and Vols offensively. They scored touchdowns on four of their first seven possessions. The big blow was a beautifully thrown 73-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Staley. Some lulls here and there, but Aguilar finished with 247 yards on 16-of-28 passing, throwing three touchdowns and – importantly – zero interceptions. Not bad at all.
-Tennessee’s defense, while far from lights-out, was aggressive and opportunistic. Turnovers forced by the Vols’ pass rush led directly to a first-quarter touchdown and then set up another soon after halftime. However, when Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli was able to withstand the pressure, he and his receivers were able to beat the Vols’ coverage and sustain possession. In a game that’d been trending toward a blowout, the Vols let the Orange hang around with second-half TD drives of 12 and 14 plays.
-Man, did it feel like this game took forever. It hit the three-hour mark with about five minutes left on the game clock – in the third quarter. Said this before and will again: College football needs to take a long look at everything the NFL does to keep its games moving.
Where the game turned
While Syracuse was in trouble from the start, a sloppy unforced error by Tennessee nearly let it off the hook. While marching to extend an early 10-0 lead late in the first quarter, Aguilar botched a fake handoff to Star Thomas. When the Orange recovered the fumble, it felt like a massive swing, gifting Syracuse its first taste of momentum.
It was only a nibble, though. On the next play, a rushing Nathan Robinson knocked the football out of Angeli’s hands, allowing Colton Hood to return the fumble 22 yards for a touchdown.
Key number
179 – First-half passing yards for Aguilar on only nine completions. A Josh Heupel offense that has legitimate home-run power would be a more fearsome offense than he’s had the past two seasons.
What I liked
Long way to go yet this season, but man, how encouraging was it for Tennessee’s program to learn that this moment wasn’t too big for Aguilar? If quarterback is a strength for these Vols instead of the weakness that everyone foresaw when Nico Iamaleava exited, then a serious upgrade is due to this team’s expectations.
What I didn’t like
This game shouldn’t have been as close as it ended up becoming. Tennessee was much the better team, and when you are much the better team, you’d like to be able to kill off the competitive portion of a game earlier than what they Vols were able to do here. It was both sides of the ball, too. Tennessee’s defense allowed long drives in part because Tennessee’s offense punted three times in a row in the second half, with none of those possessions lasting longer than 2:31.
That said, after Syracuse climbed back to 38-26 in the fourth quarter, the Vols’ defense got an important three-and-out, and then the Vols’ offense produced its longest possession of the afternoon (4:42) in driving for a late touchdown. Only then was all doubt finally gone.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
