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Where Tennessee Football is ranked ahead of SEC showdown vs. Georgia

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey09/07/25GrantRamey
Tennessee Football | Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Football | Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Football on Sunday afternoon vaulted up seven spots in the new Associated Press Top 25 and is now ranked No. 15 overall following the 72-17 win over East Tennessee State on Saturday in the home opener at Neyland Stadium. The Vols are also ranked No. 15 in the Coaches Poll after moving up two spots.

Georgia, Tennessee’s opponent in the SEC opener on Saturday in Knoxville, dropped two spots to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 and stayed at No. 3 in the new Coaches Poll.

Kickoff between the Vols (2-0) and Bulldogs (2-0) on Saturday is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC in the SEC opener at Neyland Stadium. ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast live from Knoxville Saturday morning on the lawn in front of historic Ayres Hall on The Hill.

How Tennessee and Georgia got here

The Vols set a modern day program record for scoring in a 72-17 win over East Tennessee State. Tennessee opened the season with a 45-26 win over Syracuse last week in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

Georgia beat Austin Peay 28-6 Saturday at Sanford Stadium in Athens and opened the season at home last week with a 45-7 win over Marshall. 

The Vols were ranked No. 18 in the preseason Coaches Poll before moving up to No. 17 last week. They were No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25 before moving up two spots after beating Syracuse.

Georgia was ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 last week and No. 3 in the Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs were No. 5 in the preseason AP Top 25 and No. 4 in the preseason Coaches Poll.

Tennessee on Saturday broke the modern day program record for points scored in its 72-17 win over ETSU. The Vols also set the single-game program record with 41 first downs in the win. 

The 72 points broke the previous record of 71 set in the 71-0 win over Kent State last September. Tennessee also opened last season with a 69-3 win over Chattanooga.  

Joey Aguilar vs. ETSU: 23-31, 288 yards, 2 TDs

Tennessee finished the game with 717 total yards, went 10-for-10 in the red zone and was 10-for-14 on third down. The Vols ran 100 total plays, averaging 7.2 yards per play, 12.1 yards per completion and 5.4 yards per rush. 

Joey Aguilar completed 23 of 31 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, before giving way to Merklinger, who was 9-for-14 for 118 yards and two scores. MacIntyre completed 6 of 7 passes for 52 yards.

Star Thomas led the running backs with 69 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, all in the first half. DeSean Bishop had three carries for 68 yards, including a 50-yard run on the first play of the game. Chris Brazzell II led Tennessee receivers with nine catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 11 targets. 

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