'They usually blow everybody out in the beginning of the year' - Syracuse's Fran Brown makes strong statement about Tennessee

The Tennessee Vols will open the 2025 season on August 30 in Atlanta against the Syracuse Orange. 

It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2001 when the Vols opened the season at home against Syracuse (Tennessee is 3-0 all time against the Orange). 

On Wednesday, at ACC Media Days, Syracuse head coach Fran Brown was asked about opening the season against the Volunteers. 

Brown, who coached against Tennessee in 2022 and 2023 when he was an assistant at Georgia, had high praise for Vols head coach Josh Heupel and the UT program. 

"We're blessed to be able to play in such a prestigious venue against a blue blood of college football," said Brown. "They've been doing well for years. I got a cousin that played there, and I watched, you know, all the way back to Reggie White, so we get a chance to go and play against Tennessee.

"We're just thankful to be able to play in that venue (Mercedes-Benz Stadium). We're extremely happy to get the chance to go and play against Tennessee. They do a real good job. So our team's excited.....we're just working daily, because Tennessee's a good program. They're a good team. They played in the playoffs. We get a chance to go out and compete against them. We just want to make sure we look the way we want to look, and we're supposed to look, when you go play against a team of that caliber, because they usually blow everybody out in the beginning of the year. So we're just blessed to have the opportunity to play against them."