Joey Aguilar not interested in UCLA storyline: 'I'm here now and the main goal is this team'

Joey Aguilar wasn’t interested in the UCLA storyline Saturday night. He didn’t want to go back in time and look at where he was then and compare it to where he is now. 

He was asked what his reaction would be back in April, when he was still with the Bruins, if he was told he would be Tennessee’s starting quarterback against Georgia, playing in an overtime thriller in front of a capacity checker board crowd of 101,915 at Neyland Stadium. 

“Definitely wouldn’t have had even thought of it,” Aguilar said. “But I’m here now and the main goal is this team, not just me.”

Joey Aguilar vs. Georgia: 24-36, 371 yards, 5 total TDs

He threw for 371 yards and accounted for five total touchdowns in the 44-41 loss, giving him 906 yards passing and 10 total touchdowns through his first three games with the Vols. 

“I know it’s a great story and stuff like that,” Aguilar said, “but my main focus is to do my job and help this team win games.”

The story just keeps getting better. Aguilar, an Oakley, Calif., native, parlayed two seasons at Appalachian State — he threw for 6,760 yards and 65 touchdowns in 25 games with the Mountaineers — into a transfer to UCLA in December.

But the Bruins four months later went back into the NCAA Transfer Portal to add former Tennessee starter Nico Iamaleava. That meant Aguilar was back on the move, eventually landing with the Vols in a one-for-one quarterback swap. 

UCLA fired DeShaun Foster after 0-3 start

Another twist was added Sunday afternoon, when UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster after an 0-3 start. 

UCLA lost 35-10 against New Mexico at the Rose Bowl Friday night. The Bruins lost 43-10 to Utah on August 30 and 30-23 at UCLA last week. 

Iamaleava has thrown for 608 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions so far this season, while also leading UCLA on the ground with 30 carries for 139 yards and a score. 

“We’re doing him a disservice,” Iamaleava said of Foster Friday night, according to the Los Angeles Times, “not performing for him ‘cause he’s telling us everything we need to hear, he’s telling us everything we need to do, and we’re not executing as players. So it all falls back on the players.”

Saturday night, over 2,000 miles away, Aguilar was taking accountability, too, looking back at what he could’ve done different against Georgia. 

“I feel like, like I said earlier, (I) left a lot on the table,” he said. “Didn’t put my team in the best positions to win.”

Even if something was left on the table, Aguilar became the most productive Tennessee quarterback of the Josh Heupel era against a Georgia defense.

Joey Aguilar: ‘It’s exciting to know that we’re not at our best yet’

He started a perfect 14-for-14 in the first quarter, throwing for 213 yards and accounting for three touchdowns while Tennessee jumped out to a 21-7 lead. He added touchdown passes of 56 and 32 yards in the second half as the Vols and Bulldogs traded blows.

“There was obviously some good plays here and there,” Aguilar said, “but definitely a lot I could clean up.” 

It already looks like Tennessee cleaned up in the quarterback trade. But Aguilar said this is just the beginning. How much better can the Vols be?

“So much better,” he said. “I mean, I don’t think there’s a limit. Not even offense, but defense and special teams. Everybody comes into work and strives every day, and this (loss) just shows us that we got to push a little more. 

“Everywhere, whether it’s the field, workouts, the film room. It’s exciting to know that we’re not at our best yet.”