Tennessee announces date for 2023 Orange & White Game at Neyland Stadium
Tennessee football’s annual Orange & White Game will return to Neyland Stadium on April 15. The Vols, who announced the date on Wednesday, were unable to host the spring scrimmage at the stadium last spring due to ongoing renovations.
Full details for the Orange & White game will be announced at a later date.
Josh Heupel will enter Year 3 with Tennessee after taking the program to an 11-win season in 2022. The Vols revitalized the football program by starting the season 8-0, climbing all the way to No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25.
𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲!
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 25, 2023
🏈 Orange & White Game
📆 April 15
🏟 Neyland Stadium
More details to come!#GBO pic.twitter.com/mEOUpRfHk2
Tennessee won 10 games in the regular season for the first time sine 2003 and won 11 games for the first time since 2001, ending the season with the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The Vols finished at No. 6 in the final Associated Press Top 25.
At home, Tennessee was a perfect 8-0 including wins over Florida and Alabama. Neyland Stadium added the party deck in the north end zone upper deck, a new video board above the party deck, and a new lower east side club and club seating a year ago, leaving the stadium unable for a spring game.
Instead, the Vols hosted a intrasquad scrimmage on a practice field.
The spring game will give Tennessee fans the first look at five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who enrolled with the Vols in December and went through some bowl practices with his new teammates, including other signees from the 2023 recruiting class.
Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class is ranked 10th nationally and fourth in the SEC, with a class score of 91.86. Iamaleava was the headliner in the group, finishing as the No. 1 overall player in the class in the On3 ratings. Defensive lineman Daevin Hobbs is ranked No. 29 and finished as a five-star prospect in the On3 rankings and wide receiver Nathan Leacock is No. 45, giving the Vols three top-50 players from the class. Leacock is ranked No. 71 overall, four-star in-state edge-rusher Caleb Herring is No. 83 and four-star edge rusher Chandavian Bradley is No. 97, making it five top-100 prospects.
Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class ranked No. 10 nationally, No. 4 in SEC
The Vols added eight players from the NCAA Transfer Portal: Miami offensive lineman John Campbell Jr., BYU defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally, Arizona State defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott and Oregon receiver Dont’e Thornton, UC Davis tight end McCallan Castles, BYU linebacker Keenan Pili, Texas offensive lineman Andrej Karic and Indiana kicker Charles Campbell.
There were 11 Tennessee players that left the program through the transfer portal since the end of the season: Freshman quarterback Tayven Jackson (Indiana); sophomore wide receiver Walker Merrill (Wake Forest); redshirt freshman offensive lineman RJ Perry (South Florida); freshman running back Justin Williams-Thomas (Cal); redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jimmy Calloway (Louisville); freshman defensive lineman Jordan Phillips (Maryland); redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jimmy Holiday (Western Kentucky); redshirt freshman tight end Miles Campell (North Carolina Central); redshirt senior linebacker Juwan Mitchell; redshirt freshman offensive lineman William Parker; redshirt sophomore running back Len’Neth Whitehead.
