Tennessee Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Tennessee College Football Preview 2024

It’s an interesting time for Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.

It’s a bit of a rebuilding year in Heupel's fourth season, but there’s a reasonable expectation to make it into the College Football Playoff, anyway, because it's Tennessee, and it seems like that's what it's supposed to do.

Start with this - Heupel has been an unquestioned success.

For all the great things Tennessee has done over the decades - like being the first ever BCS National Champion - the 27 wins in Heupel’s first three seasons is the best run since Phil Fulmer won 28 games from 2002 to 2004.

However, none of those three teams under the legendary Fulmer likely would’ve made an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff had it existed then. But his 2001 team would have - as would his 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995 teams; that’s for another day.

So yeah, there’s a wee bit of room here for speculation, but Heupel’s 2022 squad would almost certainly have been the only Tennessee team in 21 seasons that would’ve made an expanded CFP.

That’s where the bar is set now for most good SEC teams, and a CFP appearance is reasonable considering how good the 2022 team was.

The 2023 Vols were still great, but didn’t have the same magic. This year’s version should be good enough get close, but Heupel has some work to do.

New full-time starting quarterback, new top running back, a few new receivers, an almost-new starting secondary, a slew of new parts on the defensive front seven - there’s a LOT to replace. And yet the young talent is there to come up with something special.

So can the 2024 team be the one to show that 2022 should be the norm around Knoxville, or - with all the good young players - is this the year to get to THE year ?

No matter what, it’s going to be a blast again because of the …

Tennessee Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The offense might not have been quite as devastating as the 2022 version, but it was still really, really good, and it will be again.

It’ll still go 100 miles per hour, the passing game will still click, and there will be times when the other side just flat-out doesn’t have what it takes to keep up.

However, it has to be more consistent - last year’s attack was stuck in the mud at odd times - finishing the year 8-0 when coming up with more than 20 points and 1-4 when it didn’t.

By the way, the 2022 offense only scored fewer than 31 points once, and that was against eventual national champion Georgia on the road.

- Joe Milton wasn’t bad at quarterback, but he didn’t run the O like Hendon Hooker did. It still worked, though. Nico Iamaleava is a 6-6, 210-pound all-around playmaker who should be a statistical superstar. Great in the Citrus Bowl win over Iowa, he threw for 151 yards and a touchdown and ran for three scores.

The receiving corps is loaded again starting with Squirrel White, who led the team with 67 catches for 803 yards. Former USC transfer Bru McCoy is back on the outside after only playing in the first five games, and in from Tulane is Chris Brazzell bringing even more experience.

Notre Dame transfer Holden Staes adds another option to go along with Ethan Davis, a strong prospect who caught two passes last year.

- The offensive line that was good last season should be even stronger. Gerald Mincey left for Kentucky, but former LSU Tigers Lance Heard is a potentially special star at one tackle spot. The interior is a rock - center Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins are two of the best in the nation at their respective positions.

Jaylen Wright is gone after averaging over seven yards per carry on 1,013 yards, but second-leading rusher Dylan Sampson is back after leading the team with seven scores. There’s plenty of young depth to rotate in.

Tennessee Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The 2022 defense never got enough attention, mainly because the offense was so amazing. Last year’s version was even better, right up until it had to deal with Missouri and Georgia. As long as this side holds serve while the offense does its thing, all will be fine. The improvement partly came from …

- The Volunteer pass rush was a killer. Fourth in the nation in tackles for loss and eighth in sacks, Tennessee brought the heat from all sides. Top pass rusher James Pearce Jr. is back for one more year before being an almost certain top 20 overall draft pick. Now it’s up to the rest of the parts to take the heat off the star.

The interior is huge with 320-pound Omari Thomas and 310-pound Bryson Eason eating everything up, and with Omarr Norman-Lott a 300-pounder who get into the backfield - but another pass rusher has to emerge on the other side of Pearce to take over for Tyler Baron.

The linebackers get a key part back. Keenan Pili came to Tennessee after making 190 stops for BYU, but he was knocked out right away with an arm injury. Be shocked if he doesn’t lead the team in tackles from the middle.

2023 leading tackler Elijah Herring left for Memphis. Arion Carter and Kalib Perry will combine to try taking over for second-leading tackler Aaron Beasley on the outside.

- Another big year from the pass rush is a must to help out a secondary with five new starters. The transfer portal is helping out the cause. Oregon State’s Jermod McCoy is stepping in at one corner, and big tackler Jakobe Thomas from Middle Tennessee will play a big role at one of the safety gigs. The Vols have a little bit of experience for the other three jobs, but it lost a ton of production and depth.

Key To The Tennessee Football Season

Chill on the penalties.
This was a massive problem in 2022, too. The Vols were flagged 105 times two years ago with three games with 11 or more.

Turnovers weren’t a huge issue last year, and overall the team didn’t make a ton of mistakes, but it got nailed for an SEC-high 101 penalties with ten or more in five games.

Tennessee Key Player

Dominic Bailey, DE Sr.
Nico Iamaleava needs to be a monster at quarterback, just about everyone in the secondary has to step up, and it would be big if Bru McCoy could be healthy and more of a factor on the outside.

But everything else should fall into place if the Vols get a huge year from anyone at end who can make teams not focus every blocking scheme on James Pearce Jr.

The 6-3, 280-pound Bailey played in every game but made just 13 tackles and a half a sack. If he can’t do it, than it might be Joshua Josephs who has to do the job.

Tennessee Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Lance Heard, OT Soph.
The 6-6, 335-pounder looks the part, has the tools to be outstanding, and the expectations are there to be a massive factor on the left side of the line. He didn’t get in a ton of time at LSU, but that left tackle spot on the Vol front five might be his for the taking.

Top Transfer Out: Tamarion McDonald, S Sr.
There are others on the defense who left and will be missed, but McDonald would’ve been an important part of the rotation at one safety spot. The new Louisville Cardinal made 95 tackles with ten broken up passes over the last two seasons for the Vols.

Tennessee Key Game

NC State (in Charlotte), Sept. 7
The SEC opener at Oklahoma is a big deal, playing Alabama always matters, and good luck with the road game at Georgia in the middle of November, beating NC State is a must.

Overall the SEC slate isn’t all that bad - all things considered when it comes to home games and who the Vols miss - but this season is about getting into the expanded College Football Playoff. It’ll almost certainly take a 10-2 regular season to get there, and it’ll be really, REALLY tough to get in if there’s a loss in the first week of September.

10 Best Tennessee Football Players

1. James Pearce Jr., EDGE Jr.
2. Javontez Spraggins, OG Sr.
3. Cooper Mays, C Sr.
4. Nico Iamaleava, QB Soph.
5. Lance Heard, OT Soph.
6. Dylan Sampson, RB Jr.
7. Squirrel White, WR Jr.
8. Keenan Pili, LB Sr.
9. Omari Thomas, DT Sr.
10. Bru McCoy, WR Sr.

Tennessee 2023 Fun Stats

- Time of Possession: Opponents 35:03, Tennessee 24:35

- Penalties: Tennessee 101 for 883 yards, Opponents 72 for 523 yards

- Tackles For Loss: Tennessee 101 for 409 yards, Opponents 55 for 205 yards

Tennessee Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’s too simplistic to call this a five game season for Tennessee … so let’s just do that.

NC State in Charlotte, at Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, at Georgia.

The Vols have taken out Kentucky three years in a row - and that’s a home game. Mississippi State and at Arkansas won’t be taken down without a little sweat, and Vanderbilt is, you know, Vanderbilt.

If this really is a College Football Playoff-worthy team that can finish in the top 11 - that 12th team will be a top Group of Five champ - it can’t slip against anyone but the big five mentioned.

Just forget about winning at Georgia. It can happen, but it probably won’t, so it’s about those other four without a massive stumble.

There’s no LSU, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Auburn, or South Carolina. That’s a lot of firepower the Vols are missing, and they’ll get two of those four against the Wolfpack, Sooners, Gators, and Tide.

The have to make it at least three of those four, but yeah, there will be a weird slip somewhere.

Set The Tennessee Win Total At … 9

Likely Wins: Chattanooga, Kent State, UTEP, at Vanderbilt

50/50 Games: Alabama, at Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, NC State (in Charlotte), at Oklahoma

Likely Losses: at Georgia

2024 Tennessee Football Schedule

Aug 31 Chattanooga
Sept 7 vs NC State (in Charlotte)
Sept 14 Kent State
Sept 21 at Oklahoma
Sept 28 OPEN DATE
Oct 5 at Arkansas
Oct 12 Florida
Oct 19 Alabama
Oct 26 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 Kentucky
Nov 9 Mississippi State
Nov 16 at Georgia
Nov 23 UTEP
Nov 30 at Vanderbilt
Missing: Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M