Kirby Smart reveals his impressions of Joey Aguilar

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.

Aguilar, however, will face his first big test this weekend against Georgia. Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart was asked about Aguilar on Wednesday. Smart applauded him for his ability to make big plays on the ground and through the air.

“It looks like he’s been there for a long time,” Smart said. “He’s very similar to the quarterbacks they’ve had. He plays within that system and is a really good athlete. He can take off and really hurt you with the scramble. He’s made some big plays that way. He plays within the system and is really good at the RPO as well. He makes good decisions, is accurate and has a strong arm. Certainly fits in well.”

Tennessee currently boasts best offense in the SEC

Georgia has won eight consecutive games over Tennessee, dating back to the 2017 season. The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 15 meetings. That number could have been 14 had the Volunteers not stolen the 2016 game on Josh Dobbs‘ game-winning Hail Mary.

“This is where you really find out where you are as an offense,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said on Thursday’s edition of ‘The Pat McAfee Show.‘ “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.”

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 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC.