Tennessee football will get more touchdowns from quarterback Joey Aguilar than it did from Nico Iamaleava, and this Vols defense will sack opposing quarterbacks more times in 2025 than last season.
Those are two of the bold predictions for this season, which begins when No. 18 Tennessee plays Syracuse in Atlanta on Aug. 30 (noon ET, ABC) in the Aflac Kickoff Game.
Here are those predictions and more for the 2025 Vols.
Joey Aguilar will score more than Nico Iamaleava
Last season, Iamaleava accounted for 22 touchdowns, including 19 passing and three rushing. It was solid production, but Aguilar could do better if UT’s offense finds its groove.
After all, Hendon Hooker accounted for 36 total TDs in 2021 and 32 total TDs in 2022. And Joe Milton accounted for 27 total TDs in 2023.
The key to Aguilar outscoring Iamaleava may be if he can rack up more rushing TDs. Iamaleava scored only one rushing TD in the regular season and two more in the playoff loss to Ohio State.
Tennessee will be a top-10 team vs. Alabama
UT starts the season ranked No. 18 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, and it plays at Alabama on Oct. 18. Obviously, if UT is 6-0 heading into the Third Saturday of October, it’ll be in the top 10, maybe even top 5.
But even if the Vols have a 5-1 record, including a close loss to Georgia, expect them to still be in the top 10 for the Alabama game.
In the weeks leading up to that game, almost every team ranked ahead of UT will play at least one Top 25 team, and some will play multiple ranked teams. So there’s a good chance that a 5-1 UT team will climb in the polls.
Vols will get more sacks without James Pearce
UT had a historically strong defense last season, but its sack numbers dropped to 29. James Pearce, a 2025 NFL first-round pick, led the team with 7.5 sacks.
The 2025 Vols might not produce an All-SEC pass rusher. But they’ll amass more sacks as a group than last season’s squad. Joshua Josephs, Dominic Bailey, Bryson Eason, Arion Carter and others will make sure of that.
Tennessee will go back to a Florida bowl
This has become a regular prediction during the Josh Heupel coaching era, but it’s been right in two of the past three seasons. UT played in the Orange Bowl to end the 2022 season and the Citrus Bowl to cap the 2023 season.
If the Vols go 8-4 or 9-3, they’ll have a shot at a Florida bowl: Citrus (Orlando), ReliaQuest (Tampa), Gator (Jacksonville).
UT last played in the Gator Bowl following the 2019 season. It last played in the ReliaQuest Bowl after the 2015 season, when it was called the Outback Bowl. It’s reasonable to see the Vols landing in either.
The Orange Bowl is a College Football Playoff quarterfinal this season.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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