Joey Aguilar oozes with confidence, silences Tennessee football doubters in win over Syracuse
TREVOR MCGEE
Sports Editor
ATLANTA — “Confidence,”
quarterback Joey Aguilar said. “I got that no matter what.”
The UCLA transfer, by way of Appalachian State — with two junior college stops — showed utter confidence at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to help deliver a 45-26 win for Tennessee football over Syracuse.
His unique journey opened a new chapter on Saturday in the Aflac Kickoff Game. He closed the day with a 16-of28 stat line, tossing for 247 yards and three touchdowns. His fearlessness extended on the ground, where he added 42 yards on six carries, taking hits from Syracuse defenders without a slide.
“I feel like I did well,” Aguilar said. “It was a very good defense. Syracuse is a very good program. When they gave me a shot, I took advantage of it.”
Aguilar did not waste his time on taking shots, either. The Vols’ scripted first drive had the quarterback throwing out of the gate. When he took the first snap, he faked the handoff to DeSean Bishop and flicked the wrist to
a crossing Mike Matthews.
A 13-yard completion to begin his day. Soon followed a 9-yard completion to Chris Brazzell II. Facing a third-and-10 with a false start and an incompletion, Aguilar collected himself and delivered a drive-saving 21-yard screen pass to Bishop.
His inaugural drive in the Tennessee orange jersey concluded with points, as Max Gilbert drilled a 34-yard field goal.
“I thought the third-down conversions early in the football game were a big part of how the game played out in the second half,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “From him being decisive, decision making, accurate with the throw, our guys getting up front on the perimeter.
“First ball game, that was a real positive early in the football game.”
His second drive resulted in a touchdown. Aguilar willed the offense to a 12-play, 85-yard drive where Peyton Lewis punched it in for the score.
But not everything was perfect for the journeyman.
As Aguilar looked dialed in on his third drive, the Vols pushed the ball deep into Syracuse territory. Tennessee
set up the offense at the Orange 25yard line when Aguilar took the snap.
Soon, the ball took a tumble to the turf, and it was Syracuse that came up with it. A mishandling of the handoff gave the ball to the Orange. But the Tennessee defense had his back when Nathan Robinson and Colton Hood tagteamed quarterback Steve Angeli for a scoop-and-score on the ensuing play.
He quickly responded to the error.
On the second play of his fourth drive in command, Aguilar dropped back to the Tennessee 20-yard line. He locked eyes with Braylon Staley running a post route and fired away.
A 73-yard touchdown pass was the result of Aguilar’s reckless mentality — dropping it right into the redshirt freshman’s bread basket.
“Joey threw the deep ball well today,”
Heupel said. “... It was good to see us hit some down-the-field shots today. That’s got to be a part of who we are as we move forward.”
Aguilar was responsible for 179 passing yards in the first half and facilitated three scoring drives on the Vols’ first four chances.
The game slowed in the second half, and less was asked of him. He added on a pair of touchdown passes, putting a contested ball up to Star Thomas in the endzone and finding Miles Kitselman on a leak for another score.
His 247-yard final tally moved him ahead of previous Tennessee quarterbacks in their debut starts for Heupel.
Joe Milton put together 139 yards in a start against Bowling Green in 2021. Hendon Hooker responded with a 199yard effort against Tennessee Tech two weeks later. Iamaleava’s 2024 Citrus Bowl debut mustered 151 yards in the air attack.
“He is who he was on the practice field: just very even-keeled, composed,” Heupel said. “I thought he handled the operation extremely well in the football game. Just very steady.”
He went 1-for-3 on passes 20-plus yards down the field. The passing excelled to 3-for-6 with 48 yards on passes 10-19 yards down the field, but Aguilar feasted in the short game — which is what Tennessee’s system thrives on.
Aguilar completed seven of his 13 attempts beyond the line of scrimmage, but shorter than nine yards down the field. He upped that to a 5-for-6 mark
with 72 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage.
He spread the wealth to four different receivers, giving them a chance to make a play with the ball in their hands.
“Honestly, it’s a blessing to have a quarterback like that in the room,” Staley said. “He’s a leader. He’s out there confident. I felt like we was all confident with him.”
Finally, it was a chance to put the talking season to a rest.
Aguilar did what he was brought in to do. Along the ride, he silenced the extruding pressure, delivering a debut outing that moved Heupel’s seasonopening record to 9-0 as a head coach.
“All the outside noise is just rat poison,” Aguilar said. “We only focus about who’s in the building and the team we got. We got to go back, execute, dial in on everything we got.”