Kirk Herbstreit sees a 'big test' for Joey Aguilar facing Georgia

The first two weeks of the Joey Aguilar era at Tennessee have been nearly flawless. Just ask anyone who watched.

Aguilar opened his year as a Volunteer with a dominant 45-26 win over Syracuse in Atlanta, where he passed for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He then turned that into a 288-yard and two-touchdown performance against East Tennessee State, a game in which Tennessee won 72-17.

His early-season success is even sweeter for fans of big orange, as former quarterback Nico Iamaleava is struggling mightily at UCLA. Through two games, the Bruins are 0-2 and Nico has passed for just 391 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Aguilar, however, will face his first big test this weekend against Georgia. ESPN‘s Kirk Herbstreit joined Thursday’s edition of ‘The Pat McAfee Show‘, where he revealed that he was excited to see how he performs.

“I was excited to get a look at both Georgia and Tennessee because both of these teams have been a bit off the radar these first couple of weeks,” Herbstreit said. “Let me tell you, this offense of Tennessee’s… they’ve reloaded out at wide receiver and got some new backs and a new quarterback. They’re still running that Josh Heupel scheme, but this is Georgia.”

Herbstreit says Georgia game will be ‘a big test’ for Aguilar

“This is where you really find out where you are as an offense,” Herbstreit said. “But what (Joey Aguilar) is doing, for a guy that went from App State to UCLA and then Nico went to UCLA. He goes to Knoxville. Two weeks in, he seems to be in complete command. In this NIL and Transfer Portal era, he looks to be a guy where you know what you’re gonna get and Josh Heupel has done great work with him up to this point. This will be a big test.”

Georgia has won eight consecutive games over Tennessee, dating back to the 2017 season. The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 15 meetings, with that number potentially jumping to 14 had the Volunteers not stolen the 2016 game on Josh Dobbs‘ game-winning Hail Mary with no time remaining.

Through two games, the Tennessee offense is averaging 605 yards (1st in SEC) and 58.5 points (1st in SEC). Georgia’s defense, meanwhile, is allowing just 201.5 yards (2nd in SEC) and 6.5 points (1st in SEC). The meeting of that Volunteer offense and Georgia‘s stifling defense is sure to make for a classic in Knoxville on Saturday.

Kick-off between the top-15 teams is set for Saturday at 3:30 PM ET. The game can be seen on ABC.