Confession time: I had an abnormally weird and busy week this week and we didn’t really learn anything about our Tennessee Volunteers against UAB that we didn’t already know. Let’s have a condensed version of the column today and get prepped for a major road test before the gauntlet of the 2025 schedule kicks in. I’m headed home to East Tennessee this weekend to watch the game with my Dad and my brother. Gonna be a rowdy Tennessee Saturday night.

September 20, 2025 – Knoxville, TN. Any lingering questions that Tennessee’s narrow loss to Georgia may have been driven by high emotions that could crash against UAB were left for dead. That Georgia hangover? Nowhere to be found.

This is probably the biggest question that the Vols needed to answer on Saturday. Prove that the Georgia games wasn’t a fluke, show that your not dejected but focused, and keep the offense flowing smoothly. Add to that – getting the young guys valuable reps particularly on defense – and I think Tennessee had as productive of a weekend as they needed.

I know some have grimaced a bit at that 56-24 final score, but the first and second stringers took care of business, building a 56-10 lead by the time the third stringers finished things off toward the end of the third quarter. It’s not a big deal that the Vols didn’t cover the spread (unless you bet a bunch of money on it. In that case, my condolences), if you’re looking at things through a non-gambling lens, there’s not much to complain about.

The offense, at all positions, picked up right where they left off vs Georgia. Aguilar looked crisp. The offense looked fast and organized. Receivers were flying around the field and play calling was nice. The way that Heupel changes his play calling style when he has trust in his QB to understand the “why” behind the system is jarring to see. He was in his bag on Saturday with well-timed calls such as the sneaky screen and go to Brazzell, a nifty option pitch to Peyton Lewis, and a cheeky shovel pass to Star Thomas – all three plays resulting in a touchdown.

The offense looks ready. They know that they can go down to Starkville, MS this weekend and make a statement similar to the 2022 team’s statement in Baton Rouge.

The defense, on the other hand, still has some bugs to work out. It needs to be said that the defense was NOT as bad as that 56-24 final score may indicate. The starters only gave up 10 points and 3 of those came from a careless Boo Carter punt return fumble that set UAB up in field goal range where they promptly went three-and-out. The front four still aren’t as consistent create pass rush havoc as they need to be, the secondary is still giving too much room to receivers (maybe a little by design which I know can be frustrating for the “Never Tim Banks” crowd).

I thought Ty Redmond had a good bounce back game with a very nice pass breakup and Colton Hood continues to have his side of the field on tight lock-down.

The safeties are still a big question mark for me even with Andre Turrentine picking off a pass in the third quarter. Turrnetine needed that one for his confidence – he’s been quite underwhelming for me to this point in the season. Boo Carter continues to be an enigma. An abysmal first half, capped with the lackadaisical fumble on the punt return had me speculating on Twitter that a permanent benching may be on the table. But the fumble seemed to snap his brain back into shape and he bounced back to the tune of 9 tackles, 3 TFLs, and 2 forced fumbles. But even that all came in mega-garbage time against an overmatched opponent who was just trying to get out so… do with that what you will.

The third stringers offensively and defensively showed that they have a lot of developing to do and the backup QB situation is, umm, not great. But let’s be real, if we get that far down the depth chart for an important game this season, we’re cooked anyway. The Vols need to continue to carefully manage players who are nursing injuries currently (like David Sanders), and be very tight with who gets playing time in their place.

Looking Ahead: Mississippi State

News of Jaxson Moi’s long awaited return to the defensive line will be a huge addition to production and leadership on the field. We’ll see if his presence helps the line keep control of Mississippi State’s offensive tempo and pass attack to take some pressure off the secondary who will be without Jermod McCoy and Ricky Gibson once again.

Regardless, the Miss State offense is going to challenge our rollercoaster of a defense. Miss State head coach, Jeff Leby, is straight from the Heupel coaching tree and will come at us with a similar attack based on tempo, misdirection, running the ball, and taking shots down the field.

The good news? Tennessee’s defense has to face the very best version of that offense every single practice. Leby will throw nothing out us that we haven’t already seen. Discipline and execution will be paramount.

Offensively for the Vols, Saturday will, again, simply be about execution. It will be a loud environment (especially with those dumb cowbells ringing all night), and Miss State will be confident with a win over top 15 ASU in their back pocket. Tennessee MUST continue the trend this season of starting hot and quieting things down early. If the Vols can explode out of the gate to the tune of 21-7 or 28-10 by midway through the second quarter, I do not think that Miss State has the horses or fortitude to push Tennessee back the way that Georgia did.

This game, as with every game left on Tennessee’s schedule, will be more about the Vols than the Bulldogs. Play clean, execute Heupel’s gameplan and vision, and take the fight to them early, and the Vols should be in position to silence the doubters about Tennessee’s road woes. With a bye week looming next, Tennessee has no reason to open up the bag and bring everything they have to Starkville. Saturday’s results will set the tone for the remainder of the season – for better or worse.

10 Things I Think I Know

1. I think a second Biletnikoff Award in four seasons is officially in play.

Jalin Hyatt won a Biletnikoff Award in 2022 as the nation’s best receiver – the first in Tennessee’s storied history of great wide receivers. Through 4 games in 2025, Chris Brazzell is actually on a better pace from a numbers standpoint. It should be noted that Hyatt didn’t begin to break through in 2022 until the LSU game which was the 5th game that season, before having his signature performance against Alabama which was the 6th game of the season.

In other words, Brazzell still has a ton of work to do to earn this award. But it’s certainly not out of the question. Voters in awards like this place high value on “signature performances” or certain moments that can define the season. Brazzell seems to already have that under his belt with his performance vs Georgia. He’ll need to sustain top-tier production, but if he can remain among the nation’s leaders in yards and touchdowns while leaning on that Georgia game? He’ll be in the conversation.

2. I think I owe Chris Brazzell an apology.

Speaking of Brazzell, I think I owe him a formal apology at this point. I’ve been hard on Brazzell since he arrived at Tennessee last year coming off a Freshman All-American performance at Tulane. His size and obvious skill make wide receiver fans (like myself) drool. They also make us have high expectations and that’s exactly what I put on Brazzell. I was critical of his production last season and I kept my expectations low this season. I was critical of his early drops in the opening game against Syracuse.

So I just want to say… my bad!

I failed to take two things into consideration.

First, it takes time to learn the Heupel offense from a receiver perspective. It took a full season for both Jalin Hyatt and Donte’ Thornton to get comfortable in the system, and it’s been the same for Brazzell. More casual fans severely underestimate the difficulty level of the pre-snap read the receivers have to make just like the QB. Receivers in this offense have to be able to recognize coverages and make the correct option routes in sync with the QB in order for it to run a peak capacity.

This brings me to point number two, Brazzell’s QB last season was most assuredly not in sync with the offense. Nico and Brazzell had a few moments (see the game-winning touchdown connection vs Alabama), but they could never consistently get on the same page and bad Nico throws left tons of yards and TDs on the field. This year, Brazzell and Aguilar seem to be in much better sync. Aguilar is putting the ball either on the money or in position for his talented receivers to make a play, and the plays are being made.

Good on Brazzell for making the most of this stunning opportunity.

3. I think Clemson is cooked worse than I thought.

Clemson took a very surprising loss to Syracuse last Saturday and I think we can all officially once and for all say that the game in its current for has passed Dabo Swinney by. Dabo looks to be fully in his Fulmer 2008 era, coaching a recruiting a different game from a different era. He has reached the point where he can no longer fall back on past success and they may be past the point of no return. With coach Mike Gundy in a similar situation at Oklahoma State, the cowboys got out in front of the situation and pulled the plug on their longtime and most successful coach. Clemson may be the next to follow.

4. I think we are lucky to have forward-thinking leadership at Tennessee.

Seeing Gundy and (eventually) Dabo go down like this make me grateful to have a leadership group in Tennessee athletics that have not only embraced the future but are actively leading and shaping it.

Dabo and Gundy never embraced NIL and they never embraced the Transfer Portal. Both of these new features, no matter how frustrating and lawless they may seem, are new realities of College Sports. They only way to stay competitive is to embrace and innovate.

This is exactly what Tennessee has done that Clemson and OSU have failed to do. They hired coaches who believe in these tools and use them effectively. They have gone to bat for Tennessee and College sports as a whole by going to court, innovating ad revenue opportunities, and inking new endorsement deals. They’ve put themselves in position to compete at the highest levels in every sport and has become a true “everything school”.

We don’t always have to agree with everything that Danny White is doing as the university’s athletic director, but one thing for sure is that he’s putting Tennessee in position to succeed at every turn, and that’s way more than many other schools can say.

5. I think the guy kicking Max Gilbert in the leg has to be one of the trashiest plays I’ve ever seen.

This was worth an ejection and was a bad miss by SEC officials who had another turbulent week. This is the trashiest form of sports and has no place anywhere at any time.

6. I think we need to have an honest conversation about Boo Carter.

I took some heat last weekend for being critical of Boo Carter’s game even when he posted 9 tackles, 3 TFLs, and 2 forced fumbles. But the thing is, I stand by that criticism.

Here’s my thing: when it comes to sports and being a teammate, either you’re IN or you’re OUT. It really is that simple and that black and white to these guys.

Boo Carter has been distant and disconnected through the first 4 games of the season. His lack of effort, being out of position, and missing big play opportunities have been evident even just through watching on television. Part of my criticism goes back to what I was just talking about with Brazzell. When you’re as talented as Boo Carter is, it comes with expectations whether he thinks it’s fair or not. And Boo Carter is TALENTED, talented. Like, could be the best play on the entire team and one of the best in the SEC, talented.

But his effort is not matching the talent, and nothing frustrates me more. If you don’t believe me, do a little exercise for me: go to YouTube and watch the first half of last season’s game against Mississippi State. Just the first half. What you’ll find in Boo Carter is a guy who FLIES around the field and makes his presence known every single time he steps out there. He’s disruptive, he seems to be in on every single play, he fires up himself, his teammates, and the fans. He makes plays. Can you watch the first half of that game and come back here and tell me with a straight face that THAT is the same Boo Carter as we’ve seen on the field this year?

You absolutely cannot.

On Saturday against UAB, Boo Carter started the game lethargic as he has all season. He was loafing around, out of position, not making any impact. Then he fumbled on the punt return. It was a dumb play. He thought he could catch it and run and he messed up. You could tell that it immediately hurt his ego. It was ONLY after that play (as well as the game being out of hand) that he turned it on and got his stats. And putting up that stat-line almost completely in the second half was effortless for him. This is just pure talent. But where’s his motivation coming from? On Saturday, it sure looked like it only came from saving his own embarrassment.

So here’s the question for Boo: are you in or out? Do you want to be here or not? Because if you’re here, the expectation for you is to give your all for Tennessee. Let’s not get it twisted, Boo has only been playing because the secondary is paper thin from injuries. Does anyone really thing at this point that if Gibson and McCoy were to come back to the corners that Boo Carter would play over Colton Hood? I certainly don’t think so. But with all this being said, I honestly think that Boo Carter has more raw talent and all of them! I’m imploring Boo to put the past behind him and show up for his teammates. They are pulling for him – it was evident by the post-game video that leaked when Heupel gave him the game ball.

All Boo has to do it try. Give the effort all game, every game. Simply do that, and all of Vol Nation, myself included, will be the biggest Boo Carter fans on the planet.

If he can’t do that, I’d rather him shut it down for the season and prepare for his transfer to Colorado rather than continue to junk up our secondary. We can’t ride this rollercoaster all season. Time to decide.

7. I think I’m glad that Oklahoma has to come to Neyland this year.

At this moment in time, I think Tennessee is a better team with a higher ceiling than Oklahoma, but I am really glad we get this game inside Neyland this year. Oklahoma’s defense is extremely well-coached and they are hard hitters who fly around. They’re offense is a bit more unpredictable and less well-coached. They have a young QB who, while talented, will be coming off an injury that’s going to keep him out for several weeks and he will not be ready for the rowdy environment in Knoxville. There’s potential that Oklahoma is Tennessee’s toughest remaining game (close one with Alabama) so getting them at home is a huge scheduling win for us.

8. I think that not getting George McIntyre any snaps against UAB was a big miss.

The fall off from Joey Aguilar to Jake Merklinger is striking to say the least. I’ve pulled hard for Merk and I’m proud of him coming here to compete, but he simply doesn’t have what it takes to run this offense over the long haul if something (knock on wood) were to happen to Aguilar.

In a small sample size, McIntyre has shown that his raw quarterbacking talent is superior to Merk and maybe even to Joey. What he lacks is weight and experience. The 4th quarter against UAB was a great opportunity to eat into some of that experience deficit and I don’t fully understand why we didn’t make any attempt to take advantage.

I get not wanting to spook Merklinger into shutting himself off for the season in case he’s needed, but with Faizon Brandon coming in to compete with McIntyre next season, Merklinger does not seem to be part of the future moving forward. I personally think that G-Mac needed that 4th quarter to himself, but, you know, that’s why I’m the Armchair Volunteer.

9. I think Star Thomas needs to start eating into the RB touches.

Peyton Lewis got some great work in against UAB, but it’s Star Thomas that is proving to have the best vision and extra play-making ability in the running back room. His experience is evident next to the young backs and it really feels like he needs to be the second back at minimum, bumping Lewis to third. Hopefully we see this at Mississippi State and if not early, we see Lewis have a bit of a shorter leash.

None of this is a knock on Peyton Lewis. I think that Lewis is unbelievably gifted and has a higher ceiling than Thomas. But Lewis is still raw and learning who he is as a back. With the SEC gauntlet coming up next, we can’t be as patient while Lewis figures himself out especially while Thomas already knows who he is and executes well.

10. I think Tennessee is a good football team with an opportunity to prove it this week.

I’ve said it a few times now, this game is more about Tennessee than it is about Miss State. Tennessee has a chance to go to a hostile environment and handle a decent team who has a top 15 win this season. If the Vols take care of business and execute their gameplan, they will put College Football on notice heading into the bye.

Awards of the Week

Offensive Players of the Week

  • Chris Brazzell WR – 5 catches, 62 yards, 1 touchdown. Brazzell didn’t need to do much against UAB. What he needed to do was come out and prove that Georgia wasn’t a fluke and that this offense is flowing. He did exactly that on drive number one.
  • Peyton Lewis RB – 11 carries, 81 yards, 1 touchdown. Lewis had a nice, confidence building game that give him plenty to work with as he continues to develop.

Defensive Players of the Week

  • Boo Carter DB – 9 tackles, 3 TFLs, 2 forced fumbles. We’ve talked about his up and down game but ultimately no one else on defense had a better game on Saturday.

Hero of the Week

  • Josh Heupel HC TN – Heupel didn’t allow any sort of emotional let down from his team in a game where they could have easily played down to their competition. He was in his bag with offensive play calling and looks like he has systems firing as we ramp up SEC play.

Bust of the Week

  • Dabo Swinney HC Clemson – We’ve already covered this, but Clemson’s loss to Syracuse was bad. Dabo talks a big game, but he is out of opportunities to back it up.

Fact Of The Week That May Interest Only Me

During the third quarter, the commentators mentioned a fun fact about a UAB player was that he eats a snickers bar before every game.

Back in my peak basketball playing days, my conditioning coach was former Kentucky QB, Randy Jenkins. Jenkins played a short stint with the Dallas Cowboys and in the 1981 season, became one of the very few Kentucky QBs to beat Tennessee – something he reminded me of often.

Jenkins put me through the ringer physically. I had never been in the kind of shape I was before, and I never will be again.

Being a former high-level athlete, I was constantly trying to pick his brain for information. I wanted to know what his number 1 piece of advice was for me to approach each game with the highest advantage possible.

His number one advice? Eat a snickers bar before every game. That was the key. So I did! Every game it became such a part of my pre-game ritual that my teammates picked on me for it until it became a trend.

I have no quantifiable evidence to give you that it accomplished anything.

A Haiku For You

Headed home Friday.
Rocky Top, you'll always be,
Home sweet home to me.