Tennessee football has officially flipped the switch to Music City Bowl mode, with game week now here. When Vols fans look back on this season down the road, they may feel a little differently about the 2025 team. It didn’t live up to expectations, but it also might not have reached a bowl game at all without Joey Aguilar stepping in at the 11th hour to steady things when it mattered most.
Aguilar will be playing one last game for the Vols, unless he can get a waiver by the NCAA, which seems less and less likely as time moves on. That means Josh Heupel needs to evaluate his quarterback room and decide what he has moving forward. Does Heupel stay in the house and let George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon compete? Or does Heupel find a veteran in the transfer portal to raise the floor of the 2026 Tennessee team? These are all questions that need to be answered quickly.
When it comes to handing off the reins to Freshman George MacIntyre, Joey Aguilar has his full vote of confidence. Aguilar said this about MacIntyre’s improvement, “I would say all over the place. In the film room, you know, getting the timing down with the receivers, being vocal and controlling the offense, you know, film studies, asking good questions, learning defenses and just getting the scheme of what we got going on down to a tee.”…