Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel during Vols' football's first day of fall camp in Knoxville on July 30, 2025. Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tennessee Volunteers Predicted to Lose First SEC Game to Major Rival

Originally posted on Tennessee Volunteers on SI
By Jonathan Williams | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 10:48 AM ET

The Tennessee Volunteers have been predicted to lose their first conference game of the year to a major rival.

There is no easing into the schedule for the Tennessee Volunteers this season. They open things up against Syracuse in week one and then two weeks later, they get their conference schedule rolling with a home game against the Georgia Bulldogs.

As a result, CBS Sports recently released their predictions for the first conference game each SEC team will lose this season, and they don't have the Tennessee Volunteers making it long into the schedule before their first blemish pops up on the record.

"Kirby Smart owns Tennessee. He hasn't lost to the Vols since quarterback Joshua Dobbs hooked up with wide receiver Jauan Jennings on a last-second Hail Mary to win in Athens during the 2016 season," Brad Crawford wrote. "And given Tennessee's changes at the quarterback spot this fall, this is going to be a tough ask for whoever Josh Heupel picks to lead under center this early in the campaign against the reigning league champions."

Not only has Tennessee established a losing streak against the Bulldogs, but Josh Heupel's offense has not fared well against Smart's defense.

Heupel has averaged just 14.3 points per game against Georgia since he took over at Tennessee. A pretty staggering difference compared to what the Volunteers have accomplished against other programs offensively.

So if Tennessee wants to break its eight-game losing streak to the Bulldogs, they're going to have to figure some things out offensively to do so.