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The kickoff time and television designation for the Tennessee-Virginia 2023 season opener in Nashville have been set.
Patrick Brown
After opening the past two seasons with Thursday night home games, Tennessee, coming off an 11-win season in 2022 will be back on a Saturday to start the new campaign. To start their third year under head coach Josh Heupel, the Vols will play their 2023 season opener against Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on September 2. The kickoff time and television designations were announced for the game on Wednesday and Tennessee-Virginia has been tabbed for a noon start on ABC.
Tennessee is one of four SEC teams opening the season against a Power 5 opponent and only South Carolina-North Carolina (in Charlotte) is also on that Saturday – Florida plays at Utah on Thursday night and LSU faces Florida State in Orlando on Sunday.
This will be Tennessee’s first neutral-site season opener since 2018, when the Vols lost to West Virginia in Charlotte in the head coaching debut of Jeremy Pruitt, and it’ll be the first Saturday opener for the Vols since 2020, when the season featuring an SEC-only schedule began in late September and with limited crowds amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Heupel’s first two seasons at Tennessee began under the lights at Neyland Stadium with easy wins against MAC opponents – the Vols beat Bowling Green 38-6 in 2021 and Ball State 59-10 in 2022.
Virginia should present a greater challenge for Tennessee, but the Cavaliers are still establishing themselves under second-year head coach Tony Elliott, the former Clemson offensive coordinator the Vols pursued heavily in the coaching search that ended in Heupel’s hiring. Three seasons after Bronco Mendenhall had Virginia reaching the ACC Championship Game and playing in the Orange Bowl, Elliott debuted with a three-win season. Georgia Tech was Virginia’s only ACC win.
The Cavaliers didn’t play their final two games after three players — wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler and linebacker D’Sean Perry — were killed and running Mike Hollins wounded in an on-campus shooting by a former walk-on. The game against Tennessee will be the program’s first since the tragedy, so emotions figure to be high for the Cavaliers. The Vols wore helmet decals with the Virginia logo against South Carolina last season in their first game after the shooting.
Tennessee originally was scheduled to open the 2023 season at BYU in the return game of a home-and-home series that saw the Cougars win at Neyland Stadium in double overtime in 2019, but Instead opted to buy out of the game and play closer to home, announcing the switch of venue and opponent a little more than a year ago.
“This is a more accessible game for our fanbase,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said when the game was announced. “I expect that we will have a much larger contingent of fans in Nashville than would have been able to travel to Utah. Our fans also have heard me talk about the importance of finding new revenue to grow our operating budget, and playing Virginia at Nissan Stadium is an opportunity for a net-positive revenue game.”
According to the memorandum of understanding between the involved parties, the first $2 million in net ticket revenue will cover Tennessee’s buyout for the BYU game with the next $500,000 going to the Nashville Sports Council. The next $3 million in net ticket revenue will be split evenly between Virginia and Tennessee ($1.5 million each). Tennessee will get an 80% cut of the remaining ticket revenue.
This will be Tennessee’s third season opener in Nashville. The Vols beat Wyoming in 2022 and Bowling Green in 2015. They also have played in three recent Music City Bowls in Nissan Stadium, losing to North Carolina in 2010, beating Nebraska in 2016 and losing controversially in overtime to Purdue to conclude Heupel’s first season in 2021.
Tennessee and Virginia last played in the 1991 Sugar Bowl, when the Vols won 23-22 on a Tony Thompson touchdown run from 1 yard out with 31 seconds left, and the Vols have won three of the four all-time matchups.
ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Tennessee a 90.4% chance of winning.
The most recent addition to Tennessee’s 2023 class has arrived in Knoxville and is set to attend his first classes this week
Ryan Callahan
Emmanuel Okoye announced his commitment to Tennessee three weeks ago, giving the Vols an intriguing, late addition to their 2023 recruiting class. He’s now ready to officially start his college career.
The four-star athlete from the NFL Academy in London, who’s originally from Nigeria, told GoVols247 that he arrived at Tennessee on Tuesday night and is set to attend his first classes there this week. First-session summer classes at UT are scheduled to begin on Thursday.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Okoye was the last member of the Vols’ 2023 class to arrive on campus. The other six signees from Tennessee’s class who weren’t early enrollees joined the Vols by last week to begin summer workouts.
Tennessee’s 2023 class is still ranked No. 10 nationally in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Okoye is one of 14 four- and five-star prospects among the 26 players in the Vols’ class.
Okoye, who originally planned to be part of the 2024 class, reclassified to the 2023 class before choosing Tennessee over Texas Tech and Southern Cal on May 17, the same day the Vols announced that he had signed a financial-aid agreement with them. He took official visits to all three schools, along with Vanderbilt, in April during a roughly 10-day trip to the U.S. that allowed him to attend Tennessee's spring-ending Orange and White Game and a spring practice at Texas Tech.
A former basketball player, Okoye is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 29 edge rusher in the 2023 class and the No. 1 player in his class from England. He's also rated a four-star prospect in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, where he's ranked the No. 441 overall player and No. 43 edge rusher in the 2023 class.
The Vols and other teams recruited him as a possible tight end or edge rusher. During the fall, Okoye played defensive end and on special teams for the NFL Academy.
At the NFL Academy Combine, he posted a 45.5-inch vertical jump and an 11-foot-3-inch broad jump. He said he has an 86-inch wingspan.
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Before publicly revealing his decision last month, Okoye told GoVols247 that he picked Tennessee because of “my connection with the coaches and the environment, because everything I do, I look at it from a different perspective.”
“The advice that I got from people, and me looking out for, like, the school regardless of football — if the coaches are taken out, if football is taken out, would I still want to be in this school? Would I want to be in such an environment?” he said. “I mean, I would love to be in such a great environment like Knoxville. The coaches, they were genuine with their mission for me. With everything going on, they were genuine.”
Okoye earned his spot at the NFL Academy with a strong showing at an NFL Africa Camp in June 2022. He was discovered by former NFL defensive end Osi Umenyiora and his "The Uprise" program scouts. Okoye was invited to attend the inaugural "The Uprise" football talent identification camp in Abuja, Nigeria, last year before attending the NFL Africa Camp.
After appearing in just three games last year at the NFL Academy, he received scholarship offers from nearly 20 schools. He said last month that his decision came down to Tennessee and Texas Tech in the end.
FAQs
What are the predictions for the Vols 2023? ›
The Vols will be favored by a large margin over Virginia, Austin Peay and UTSA. They even will be favored over Florida in The Swamp, where they have lost nine consecutive games. And they also will be expected to win against South Carolina at home. ADAMS:Setting 7 goals for Tennessee football in 2023.
What channel is the Tennessee football game on? ›The 2022 Orange Bowl should be a wildly competitive affair when the No. 6 ranked Tennessee Vols take on the No. 10 Clemson Tigers in a college football showdown kicking off from Florida today on Friday, December 30 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) with a live TV broadcast on ESPN. You can watch the Tennessee vs.
What is the score of the Tennessee football spring game 2023? ›Spring practice has come to an end for Tennessee football in 2023. The White team beat the Orange team 17-14 Saturday.
How many ranked teams has Tennessee played this year? ›The Vols have a Strength of Schedule of 19 and have beaten five ranked teams this season, which were ranked through the Associated Press Poll.
How much is Tennessee favored over UT Martin? ›| overall | favorite o/u | |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 7-5 | 6-4 |
| TN-Martin | 9-2 | 7-1 |
Tennessee's 2023 recruiting class is ranked No. 12 nationally after Okoye's commitment.
What is the highest scoring University of Tennessee football game? ›| TEAM | DATE | PTS |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee Titans | 11/29/2020 | 45 |
| Houston Oilers | 12/15/1968 | 45 |
| Houston Oilers | 9/3/1966 | 45 |
| Houston Oilers | 11/26/1961 | 45 |
Beginning in 1928, the rivalry was scheduled on its "traditional" date. Robert Neyland, Tennessee's coach and namesake of the present Tennessee stadium, began challenging Alabama for their perennial spot on top of the conference standings. It was officially given the name Third Saturday in October 1939.
Has Tennessee ever won a bowl game? ›Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 1990): Tennessee 31, Arkansas 27. Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 1991): Tennessee 23, Virginia 22.
Has Tennessee ever been ranked number 1? ›1: Remembering Volunteers' 1998 season on top of college football.
How fast does Tennessee snap the ball? ›
The 2022 Vols use just 21.3 seconds of clock per offensive snap, the fifth-fastest rate in the Football Bowl Subdivision, per ESPN's Stats and Information Group.
What poll has Tennessee number 1? ›On Tuesday night, the Tennessee Volunteers were dubbed the top team in the country when they were given the top spot in the first College Football Playoff poll of the 2022 college football season.
What bowl will Tennessee go to? ›Tennessee football will face Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 in Miami.
How can I watch Tennessee football without cable? ›How to watch Tennessee Volunteers football on Hulu + Live TV. In its $64.99/mo. package, Hulu + Live TV, offers all the many ways to stream Volunteers football games. You'll also receive more than 65 networks in total, including numerous ways to watch other college games like basketball.
What channel is Fox on Tennessee? ›| Display Channel | Digital Channel | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 11-2 | 6.2 | Action Channel |
| WZTV | NASHVILLE, TN | |
| 17-1 | 20.3 | FOX |
| WUXP-TV | NASHVILLE, TN | |
The Vols' three main rivalries include the Alabama Crimson Tide (Third Saturday in October), Florida Gators , and Vanderbilt Commodores. Tennessee also has a long and important rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats.
How much is UT paying UT Martin football? ›As an interesting note on their academic performance, the team's APR is 937. On the money side of things, the UT Martin football program brought home $3,239,756 in revenue and paid out $3,331,917 in total expenses.
What is the gender ratio at UT Martin? ›The University of Tennessee-Martin has a total enrollment of 6,712 with a gender distribution of 37.59% male (2,523 students) and 62.41% female (4,189 students).
Who will be the starting qb for the tennessee vols in 2023? ›That's because Joe Milton, a former starter who saw a significant amount of action in 2022, will be taking over as the Vols' starting quarterback in 2023. And he'll be backed up by five-star phenom Nico Iamaleava, a true freshman at Tennessee.
How many 5 star recruits are there 2023? ›A look at the former five-star recruits in the 2023 NFL Draft: Bryce Young, Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr. top the list. There are 35 former five-star recruits in the 2023 NFL Draft. All of the top-three prospects were five-star recruits: Bryce Young, Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr.
Who is the number 1 college football recruit 2023? ›
There's a new No. 1 in the 2023 college football recruiting rankings, according to Sports Illustrated, and it's not quarterback Arch Manning. Five-star quarterback Dante Moore is the best recruit in the country for the 2023 cycle in the latest SI99 rankings to be unveiled this preseason.
What is the longest high school football rivalry in Tennessee? ›Marion County rivalry is one of the oldest in the state of Tennessee, dating back to the era prior to the Great Depression.
Who has the most high school football state championships in Tennessee? ›| Most Consecutive Team State Championships | |
|---|---|
| Brentwood Academy | 14 |
| Trousdale County | 9 |
| Webb School of Knoxville | 8 |
| Montgomery Bell Academy | 7 |
No. 1 — Oct. 7, 1905: Tennessee 104, American Temperance University 0.
How much will Tennessee be fined for storming the field? ›Read More. Tennessee sportsbooks are live in the Volunteer state since November 1, 2020. Tennessee was the first SEC state to legalize sports betting. Tennessee will incur a fine of $100,000 for a second offense under the league's access to competition area policy.
Has Tennessee ever won against Alabama? ›A top three ranking in the new AP Poll and a legitimate pathway to the College Football Playoff. Tennessee's 52-49 win over Alabama was a moment of healing for the fanbase, one that's been beaten down for a decade and a half. It was a wild game, one that nobody would have believed if you predicted it.
When was the last time Tennessee beat Alabama at home? ›The last time Tennessee defeated Alabama was in 2006, when the Vols edged the Crimson Tide 16-13 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN.
Who has won more Florida or Tennessee? ›...
Florida–Tennessee football rivalry.
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| All-time series | Florida leads, 31–21 |
| Largest victory | Tennessee, 45–3 (1990) |
| Longest win streak | Florida, 11 (2005–2015) |
76: Alabama has the most bowl appearances (76) in history, as well as the most bowl victories (44).
Has Tennessee ever won the SEC tournament? ›In the expanded Stokely Center's inaugural season, the Volunteers captured the 1967 SEC championship and made the program's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. Dubbed the "Fearless Five," the 1967 team won road games against top conference teams Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.
When was the last time Tennessee was ranked in the top 5? ›
The last time Tennessee football was in the top five this late in the season was 2001, when they reached as high as No. 2 at the end of the regular season after beating Florida on the road.
When was the last time Tennessee football was ranked top 3? ›The Vols received 15 first-place votes and have their best ranking since starting the 2005 season at No. 3. The last time Tennessee was ranked this highly in the second half of the season was 2001, reaching the top 10 in late October and headed into the SEC championship at No. 2.
When was the last time the Vols ranked top 10? ›For the first time since 2016, Tennessee is ranked inside the top 10. This is the eighth time the Vols have been in the top 10 this century, and it's their highest ranking since 2006.
What is Tennessee record for most yards in a game? ›| Rank | Player | Yards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Bray | 530 |
| 2 | Peyton Manning | 523 |
| 3 | Peyton Manning | 492 |
| 4 | Jarrett Guarantano | 415 |
Kentucky won the game 67–66 after a last minute missed Tennessee free throw, splitting the conference title and taking away Tennessee's hopes of a tournament bid. The rivalry has been among the biggest for both schools. Tennessee claims the most victories against Kentucky of any program in men's college basketball.
Does Tennessee get fined for rushing the field? ›Tennessee was also fined $100,000 after last month's celebratory field rushing after the football win over Alabama. Why is the dollar difference so great?
Is Tennessee ranked higher than Georgia? ›UGA No. 3, Tennessee No. 1 in first College Football Playoff rankings.
Where does Tennessee rank now? ›Just In: Tennessee's Ranking Unveiled in Third CFP Rankings of 2022. Tennessee (9-1, 5-1) is ranked 5th in the AP poll and the Coaches Poll.
What rank is Tennessee in football? ›Four SEC teams made the top 25, all placing within the top 10. The Tennessee Volunteers rounded out the pack at No. 10.
Will Tennessee vols be good in 2023? ›ESPN released its 2023 Football Power Index rankings on Tuesday, which includes projected records, conference championship chances and playoff odds for all FBS programs. Tennessee lands second in the SEC East at No. 12 with an FPI rating of 15.2 and is predicted to finish 8-4.
Who will be qb for Vols 2023? ›
That's because Joe Milton, a former starter who saw a significant amount of action in 2022, will be taking over as the Vols' starting quarterback in 2023. And he'll be backed up by five-star phenom Nico Iamaleava, a true freshman at Tennessee.
Who is Tennessee basketball recruiting targets 2023? ›Estrella joins four-star combo guard Freddie Dilione and three-star power forward Cade Phillips as the members of Tennessee's 2023 recruiting class. All three are strong pieces that fit Rick Barnes and his program's system well. They are also three of Tennessee's first targets in the 2023 cycle.
How many points is Tennessee Vols favored by? ›The Vols are currently listed as 22-point favorites in the latest Tennessee vs. South Carolina odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under for total points scored is 66. Before entering any South Carolina vs.
Will Tennessee move to number 1? ›Now it really does feel like '98 – Tennessee is the No. 1-ranked team in college football. The Vols landed in the top spot of the debut College Football Playoff rankings for the 2022 season released on Tuesday night, giving the program its first No.
What will the Vols be ranked? ›Just In: Tennessee's Ranking Unveiled in Third CFP Rankings of 2022. Tennessee (9-1, 5-1) is ranked 5th in the AP poll and the Coaches Poll. On Tuesday night, the College Football playoff committee unveiled the third CFP rankings of the season on ESPN, and the Vols are ranked as the 5th in the playoff rankings.
Is Tennessee Vols defense good? ›The Vols allowed more than 30 points just three times (Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, a 63-point horror show). Tennessee ranked second in the SEC in run defense (115.8 yards per game) after ranking eighth in 2021.
Who did Tennessee Vols recruit for 5 star QB? ›KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee football welcomed 28 new additions to its 2023 signing class when the early signing period officially began on Wednesday. The Vols' 28-man class was headlined by five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who first committed in March.
Who is the top quarterback recruit for Tennessee? ›Tennessee football quarterback Nico Iamaleava is the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class in On3's final rankings. The Vols signee moved up from No. 2, taking the top spot from Texas quarterback signee Arch Manning, the nephew of Peyton Manning.
Who is the Tennessee Vols new QB commit? ›Jake Merklinger, a 4-star quarterback from Savannah, Georgia has announced that he will be joining the Tennessee Volunteers as a member of the team's 2024 recruiting class.
Where is Tennessee in recruiting rankings? ›The Vols are now ranked seventh nationally in the 2024 On3 team recruiting rankings and are fourth in the in SEC with a class score of 92.31.
Who leads Tennessee career home run? ›
Evan Russell sets Tennessee baseball career home run record.
Has Tennessee ever been ranked number one in college football? ›1: Remembering Volunteers' 1998 season on top of college football.
Is Tennessee favored over UT Martin? ›The No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers (6-0) host the FCS UT Martin Skyhawks on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers are heavily favored, by 38 points. An over/under of 69.5 points has been set for the contest.