IFTIT: Tennessee Vols vs. ETSU Buccaneers Football Preview 2025
They're on the sides of my Buccanhead
Recently
Tennessee (#22/17, 1-0, 0-0 SEC) made the most of their trip to Atlanta, beating Syracuse 45-26 last Saturday. If you want to be cynical, you could say that the game was closer than it should have been as Syracuse had cut the Vols’ lead to just 12 points early in the 4th quarter. But in reality it was a game Tennessee controlled from the start—the eighth opening-game win in eight tries as a head coach for Josh Heupel, and the eighth-straight year Heupel’s team has scored on its initial drive of the season.
Meanwhile ETSU (RV/#24 FCS, 1-0, 0-0 SoCon) lifted the lid on their season by routing Murray State 45-17 in Johnson City. The Bucs are led by first-year coach Will Healy, a Chattanooga native and former all-state QB at Boyd-Buchannan who you might remember as the man who raised Austin Peay’s program from the dead a little less than a decade ago. Healy then spent a less-glorious stint at Charlotte before returning to the FCS ranks as ETSU’s head man.
Previously on Vols vs. Buccaneers
This will be just the second meeting all-time for these two teams whose campuses are just 108 miles apart. Tennessee won the previous game 59-3 in 2018—Jeremy Pruitt’s first game as UT’s head coach and one I’m sure filled me with false hope for the coming years if I cared to remember back that far (which I do not).
Matchup and Personnel
I’m not going to pretend to know much about ETSU’s roster. I do know that QB Cade McNamera was the starter at Michigan and led them to the 2021 college football playoffs before transferring to Iowa and eventually the Bucs, so the QB play should be capable Saturday. The Bucs also had a 130-yard rusher against Murray State (GR UConn transfer Devontae Houston) and two other backs go over 50 yards. They’re a well-coached, upper-level FCS team. Joey Aguilar went 22-36 for 326 yards and 2 TDs in App State’s 38-10 season-opening win against ETSU last year, FWIW.
Tennessee’s personnel is what to keep an eye on in this game. The Vols need to put ETSU away early and play a lot of guys to keep everyone fresh and healthy with Georgia coming to town next week.
Of course, a lot more players will (should) play for UT than what you see here.
I’m not sure about a few spots on defense: is Boo out of the doghouse enough to get the start at STAR? It’ll probably be McMurray.
Ty Redmond starting at corner? IDK, but the kid made some plays last week, and with BOTH Rickey Gibson and Jermod McCoy out indefinitely, Redmond will at least play a lot of early snaps.
Also not sure if Nathan Robinson will start inside as he’s a little “nicked up”, but with Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs both out, somebody has to play on the DL. Really missing the depth that position had a year ago.
On offense, I’m hoping David Sanders starts. I don’t think you can throw him in against UGA next week without having some snaps in first. If he can’t go, the O-Line that played against Syracuse did well and should certainly dominate this game.
It will also be interesting to see how the workload divides among the skill positions. Does Heupel leave his starters in to get more reps together considering the starting QB has only been on campus a few months? Or does UT prioritize risk management and get the starters out early with a huge SEC game on the horizon?
Prediction
Two years ago, Tennessee struggled to shake off Austin Peay in that year’s in-state FCS game. But other than that 30-13 win against the Govs, UT has beaten in-state FCS schools by an average of 63-9. Expect more of that Saturday. Vols 59, ETSU 9