As expected, Tennessee has named Joey Aguilar as its starting quarterback for a Week 1 showdown vs. Syracuse on Aug. 30 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Likewise, the Orange announced that Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli will be its starter against the Volunteers.
As of early Monday afternoon, most books had the Vols installed as 14 or 14.5-point favorites with a total of 51. The ‘Cuse was +450 on the money line.
FanDuel has Tennessee’s Team Total at 33.5 points (‘under’ -118, ‘over’ -112), while Syracuse’s Team Total is 17.5 (‘under’ -130, ‘over’ -102). The Vols are -7.5 at a -105 price for first-half wagers and -3.5 (-104) for first-quarter bets.
Aguilar started 24 of 25 games for Appalachian St. in the last two seasons. In 14 games during the 2023 campaign, he completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 3,757 yards with a 33/10 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Aguilar added 245 rushing yards and three TDs, averaging 3.0 yards per carry while helping the Mountaineers go 9-5 straight up and 6-7-1 against the spread.
They won their last five regular-season games to earn an invite to the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, where they lost 49-23 at Troy. But Appalachian St. bounced back to beat Miami (OH.) 13-9 at the Cure Bowl.
App St. struggled to a 5-6 SU record and a 4-6-1 ATS mark in 2024 for the program’s first losing season since 2013. Like the team, Aguilar’s play also regressed. He connected on only 55.9 percent of his passes for 3,003 yards with a 23/14 TD-INT ratio. His 14 picks were the most by any Sun Belt QB.
Fran Brown is turning to Angeli after the loss of QB Kyle McCord, who is off to the NFL after a spectacular one-year run in upstate New York. After transferring from Ohio St., McCord led the nation in completions (391), attempts (592) and passing yards (4,779). He completed 66.0 percent of his throws with a 34/12 TD-INT ratio.
After sparking Syracuse to a 10-3 SU record and a 6-6-1 ATS mark in Brown’s first season, McCord was a sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Angeli will be making his second career start vs. Tennessee. In three years at Notre Dame, Angeli played in 21 games. He’s completed 58-of-80 career passes (72.5%) for 772 yards with a 10/1 TD-INT ratio.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Angeli was a four-star prospect in Notre Dame’s 2022 recruiting class. He was ranked as the nation’s #365 overall prospect, the #21 QB and the #4 player out of New Jersey.
Angeli beat out LSU transfer QB Rickie Collins for the starting gig.
The Orange lost its top three pass catchers, but junior WR Darren Gill is back. Gill had 31 receptions for 570 yards and two TDs last year.
WR Justus Ross-Simmons is expected to have a bigger impact in 2025. In 10 games last year, he made nine catches for 202 yards and two TDs. As a sophomore at Colorado St. in 2023, Ross-Simmons hauled in 45 receptions for 724 yards and three TDs.
Texas transfer WR Johntay Cook was a five-star prospect in the 2023 class, but he transferred to Syracuse to look for more playing time and a fresh start. In 20 games for the Longhorns over the last two years, Cook had 16 catches for 273 yards and two TDs.
Phil Steele’s National Unit Rankings have the Orange #49 at WR and #70 at LB, but those are the only position groups in his rankings that go up into the 65 to 75 range.
Steele’s National Unit Rankings have the Vols #44 at RB, #34 at WR, #45 on the offensive line, #20 on the defensive line, #24 at LB, #16 in the secondary and #14 on special teams, but they’re unranked at QB.
Like the Orange, Tennessee also lost its top-three WRs. WR Chris Brazzell returns after snagging 29 receptions for 333 yards and two TDs, but he’s spent most of training camp sidelined with an injury to date. TE Miles Kitselman is also back after catching 22 balls for 301 yards and four TDs.
Syracuse won outright in both of its games as a double-digit underdog in Brown’s first season, winning 33-25 at California as a 10-point road ‘dog and stunning eighth-ranked Miami 42-38 as an 11-point home ‘dog. The Vols went 4-4 ATS with one outright loss as double-digit ‘chalk’ in 2024.
Kickoff for Syracuse vs. Tennessee is scheduled for noon Eastern on ABC.