Tennessee football opens the 2024 season Saturday in Neyland Stadium.

A new season brings new expectations, and an in-state matchup with the Chattanooga Mocs is on deck.

KEYS

Trevor McGee, Assistant Sports Editor

1. Rotate

While this key may seem obvious as indicated by the multitude of “or” placeholders on the depth chart, Tennessee has a lot of inexperience with various positions. Frankly, there are position battles still to be won. Position groups such as defensive back, tight end and kicker feature young options that have yet to see significant collegiate snaps.

Additionally, the wide receivers, running backs and defensive line corps are loaded with depth. Getting ample playing time to first, second and third team units is crucial. Everybody wants to see the starters because that’s exciting, but Tennessee has a good problem they’re facing in Week 1 — depth.

2. Experiment, but not too much

Last season, the Vols came out flat against another talented FCS opponent during their home opener. As seen in previous seasons, Josh Heupel has kept a very “vanilla playbook” in early games of the season. Heupel does not get fancy against weaker opponents. Instead, he saves more significant plays for the larger games.

When Tennessee finally opened the playbook against Florida last season, the execution faltered and did not bring success. While it’s not ideal to expose the entire playbook, practicing game reps against someone other than your own defense is helpful — especially against a ranked Chattanooga squad.

Jack Church, Senior Staff Writer

1. Control the game early

In last year’s game against UTSA, Tennessee expected to get Nico Iamaleava a lot of reps. However, the Vols couldn’t control the game and let the Roadrunners stay in it, leading to less playing time than anticipated.

In order for a successful game on Saturday, Tennessee needs to take a big first-half lead and allow the backups to settle in. With a tough game against NC State next week, the Vols need to rest their starters as much as possible.

2. Find consistency in the secondary

Tennessee starts the year with a new-look secondary, and Saturday is the time to experiment with it. With plenty of reps to go around, the Vols can try different looks and not worry about getting into a hole that they can’t climb out of.

When Tennessee heads to Charlotte next week to face the Wolfpack, it should have a consistent secondary unit ready to go. Although NC State’s passing game didn’t shine against Western Carolina, it certainly has the weapons to wreak havoc on opposing defenses. For that reason, the Vols need to figure out their core unit and stick to it next week.

PREDICTIONS

Spread: Tennessee -38.5

O/U: 56.5

Trevor McGee

I am choosing the conservative route for Tennessee. Heupel has never been known to run up the score and I certainly don’t see it happening when the Vols are sporting a uniform that honors the state of Tennessee. We’ll probably only see the Nico Iamaleava show for one half, leaving a likely boring second half of conservative plays being called.

Tennessee will not get the shutout defensively, but I would not be surprised if they held the Mocs to single digits.

Tennessee 45, Chattanooga 3

Jack Church

I expect the Vols to get ahead early and control the game from the jump. With plenty of different players to rotate in, Tennessee would do itself favors by getting them in as early as possible. Once Iamaleava comes out, Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger can still find success offensively with Tennessee’s reserve units.

Unlike our College Football 25 simulation, I expect the Vols to have no trouble with the Mocs.

Tennessee 63, Chattanooga 7