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How To Watch: Tennessee vs. Syracuse in Saturday's Aflac Kickoff Game

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey08/25/25GrantRamey
Tennessee Football vs. Syracuse | Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Football vs. Syracuse | Tennessee Athletics

No. 24 Tennessee opens the new season against Syracuse on Saturday afternoon in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Kickoff is set for Noon Eastern Time on ABC, part of a triple header followed by No. 6 Alabama at Florida State at 3:30 p.m. ET and No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson at 7:30 p.m ET.

After opening with the neutral-site game, Tennessee will host ETSU in its home opener at Neyland Stadium next Saturday, in a 3:30 p.m. ET start ESPN+ and SEC Network+. The SEC schedule opens at home against No. 5 Georgia on September 13, in another 3:30 p.m. ET start on ABC.

How to Watch: Tennessee vs. Syracuse

Start Time: Saturday, Noon Eastern Time

TV: ABC (Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick and Kris Budden)

Streaming: ESPN App

Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville (Mike Keith, Ramon Foster, Brent Hubbs, Jayson Swain). The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.

Vols favored by two touchdowns

Tennessee is a two-touchdown favorite against Syracuse, according to updated odds from BetMGM. The Vols are 14-point favorites and -600 on the money line, with the total set at 50.5.

Tennessee is also listed at +270 to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field, +2200 to win the SEC championship and +4000 to win the national championship. Texas is the favorite to win both the SEC championship, at +275, and the national title, at +450.

The Vols are ranked No. 18 in the Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25. Tennessee is No. 8 in ESPN’s Football Power Index and No. 13 in ESPN’s SP+ ranking.

The Starting Quarterbacks

Tennessee named Appalachian State and UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar as its starting quarterback just over a week ago, beating out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre.

Syracuse named Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli as its starting quarterback last Monday, beating out LSU transfer Rickie Collins. 

Angeli appeared in 21 games over the last three seasons at Notre Dame, throwing for 772 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception. He completed 72.5% of his passes , going 58-for-80. 

Aguilar threw for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over 25 games in two seasons at Appalachian State.

Both teams went 10-3 last season

Syracuse went 10-3 last season, its first season under head coach Fran Brown. The Camden, N.J., native, was Georgia’s defensive backs coach for two seasons, in 2022 and 2023, before getting hired at Syracuse. 

The Orange lost at home against Stanford and lost road games at Pittsburgh and at Boston College. They upset No. 6 Miami 42-38 on November 30 to deny the Hurricanes a spot in the College Football Playoff, then beat Washington State 52-35 in the Holiday Bowl to end the season on a four-game win streak. 

Syracuse led all of college football in passing offense last season, at 370.0 yards per game, with Kyle McCord passing for 4,770 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 13 games.

Tennessee went 10-3 last season, making the College Football Playoff as a No. 9 seed but losing on the road at No. 8 Ohio State, as the Buckeyes started their run to the national title. The Vols lost at Arkansas and at Georgia in the regular season.

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