Shy Away: Tennessee enters 2025 season as a serious question mark

A year removed from making the College Football Playoff, Josh Pate is admittedly lower on the Tennessee Volunteers than others. An offseason full of drama came to a close with Joey Aguilar joining the program and ultimately winning the starting quarterback job. For Pate, it’s just too new for him to have confidence in positive results being produced in 2025.

“I just think there’s too much newness,” Pate said via Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “I think there’s too much unexpected newness. You can slice it anyway you want to. You’ve got a quarterback about to start for you that you didn’t even know the name of midway through spring ball.

“If you’re a Tennessee fan, you didn’t know Joey Aguilar, you weren’t paying attention to him. And now, he’s your starting quarterback. In storybook land, that goes great. This is the real world, this is the Southeastern Conference. There’s too much new there.”

Pate also pointed out how Aguilar is someone who is prone to turning the ball over. Two seasons at Appalachian State saw him throw 24 interceptions, including 14 in 2024. Five different games saw multiple INTS, with the worst being four against Louisiana.

One thing you cannot doubt in Knoxville is the job Josh Heupel has done. Plenty of talent is still on the roster. Tennessee was able to find a ton of success last year despite the inconsistent play of Nico Iamaleava at times. More than anything, Heupel wants to be great up front and run the ball.

Even so, Pate is waiting to see if things can materialize. Specifically, when Georgia comes to town on Sept. 13.

“Still a really talented team,” Pate said. “That’s why I’m really careful with all this. Trust me, I know the talent profile is still good, you just don’t know the names. Maybe I’m a little bit cooler on Tennessee.”

Until the Georgia game, we will get a nice data point on Tennessee. A big-time season opener against Syracuse will take place on Aug. 30 in Atlanta. Fran Brown is a head coach looking for another massive win and taking down an SEC program would provide a spark.

You have to imagine a lot of Vol Nation will be inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in just over a week’s time. If Pate’s expectations are a little lower than others, they will all be hoping to surpass them in a big way.