The oddsmakers believe in Tennessee.
Tennessee is set to get its 2025 season rolling on Saturday, traveling down to Atlanta to take on Syracuse. Both sides have completely reloaded from last season, replacing several key contributors across the board. There are plenty of questions surrounding this one, but the oddsmakers have held firm on their Tennessee stance throughout the summer months.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Tennessee remains a 13.5 point favorite over Syracuse. The total sits at 50.5.
Tennessee will be breaking in senior transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar, who went from Appalachian State to UCLA to Knoxville this offseason. He won the job over younger players Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, drinking from a firehose to learn the offense after arriving in May.
One of the other options Tennessee had in the transfer portal, former Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli, won the starting job for Syracuse. Angeli replaces Kyle McCord, who powered Fran Brown’s team to a surprising 10-3 mark in 2024. Running back Le’Quint Allen and tight end Oronde Gadsden turned pro, while top receiver Trebor Pena hit the transfer portal.
Defensively, Syracuse will have to improve across the board. The Orange ranked 69th nationally against the run and 82nd nationally against the pass. Without the explosiveness on the other side of the ball from last season, Brown’s defensive unit will have to step up in a big way.
“A lot different personnel,” Josh Heupel said of Syracuse’s reload this offseason. “All their shifts, trades, motions, the communication is going to be important. I said it earlier, but tying all three levels of your defense together is going to be important in this. You’ve got to be able to win one-on-one matchups with the way that they spread the field, too. That’s in your secondary, but that’s also winning one-on-one matchups up front.”
You could say the same thing about Tennessee as well. Four new starters on the offensive line, a new trio of running backs taking over for Dylan Sampson and a near entirely new wide receiver room — how will it all work? Vegas is clearly banking on Tennessee’s overall talent and program continuity here.
The Volunteers will more than likely be leaning on Tim Banks’ defense early on, which is filled with veterans who have been in the system for years now. That group carried Tennessee to the College Football Playoff one season ago, can they do it again in 2025?
Category: General Sports
