2023 Tennessee football: Game-by-game predictions (2023)

No. 10 Tennessee will kick off its 2023 season on Sept. 2.

The Vols will open play versus Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (noon EDT, ABC).

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Tennessee’s home schedule has contests against Austin Peay, UTSA, South Carolina, , UConn, Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The Vols’ road schedule features games at Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Missouri.

Tennessee’s open date will take place on Oct. 7, after playing South Carolina and before the Texas A&M game.

2023 Tennessee Vols football schedule: Downloadable smartphone wallpaper

The 2023 season will be the Vols’ third under head coach Josh Heupel.

Heupel guided Tennessee to a 18-8 (10-6 SEC) record and two bowl appearances from 2021-22.

Vols Wire projected a 7-5 regular-season record in 2021 and a 10-2 regular-season record in 2022for Tennessee under Heupel.

Tennessee’s 2023 roster

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Tennessee enters the 2023 campaign with the most returning lettermen in the Southeastern Conference and the second most among teams ranked in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Returning lettermen for 2023 preseason top 25 teams:

Michigan 86
Tennessee 62
TCU 60
Ole Miss 57
Georgia 54
54
USC 53
Washington 51
Wisconsin 51
Clemson 49
Oregon State 49
Florida State 48
Utah 47
Texas Tech 46
Kansas State 44
North Carolina 44
Penn State 44
Oklahoma 42
Ohio State 41
Texas 41
LSU 40
Oregon 39
Tulane 39
Notre Dame 37
Alabama 36

2023 SEC football returning lettermen:

Tennessee 62
Ole Miss 57
Vanderbilt 56
Georgia 54
Texas A&M 54
Florida 41
LSU 40
Auburn 38
Mississippi State 38
Missouri 37
South Carolina 37
Alabama 36
Kentucky 36
Arkansas 35

*Data provided by “Phil Steele’s College Football Preview”

Tennessee also added eight student-athletes from the NCAA transfer portal to its roster during the offseason.

The Vols’ most notable student-athlete to transfer from Tennessee during the offseason was four-star redshirt freshman quarterback Tayven Jackson.

Jackson transferred to Indiana and will play for co-offensive coordinators Walt Bell and Anthony Tucker. Bell and Tucker have ties to Tennessee’s program.

Bell served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State from 2014-15. At Arkansas State, Bell was co-offensive coordinator with current Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee. Elarbee also served as a graduate assistant (2003-04) and tight ends coach (2005) at Middle Tennessee State when Bell played wide receiver for the Blue Raiders.

Tucker served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah State from 2021-22 after coaching under Heupel at UCF. Tucker was Heupel’sco-offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2020, passing game coordinator and running backs coach in 2019, and running backs coach during the 2018 campaign at UCF.

Tucker served as running backs coach at Maryland from 2016-17 under then-offensive coordinator Bell. He was also running backs and wide receivers coach at Arkansas State from 2013-15 under Bell and Elarbee.

Vols Wire highlighted how Utah State provided a blueprint for Tennessee against Alabama last season. Utah State played at Alabama in Week 1 last season and Vols Wire presented a breakdown in how the Crimson Tide’s defensive personnel could perform versus Tennessee and a similar scheme.

The Vols will have a similar situation in 2023. Alabama will play at USF on Sept. 16 ahead of hosting Tennessee in October. Former Vols’ offensive coordinator Alex Golesh enters his first season as head coach at USF.

Analysis: Breaking down Alabama’s defensive personnel in 2022 against Utah State ahead of playing at Tennessee

Tennessee also addedMicah James as an offensive analyst for the 2023 season. James served as offensive line coach under Tucker at Utah State (2021-22), co-offensive line coach at UMass when Bell was head coach (2019-20), offensive graduate assistant (2018) at UCF under Heupel, offensive graduate assistant under Bell at Maryland (2017) and offensive graduate assistant at Arkansas State with Bell and Elarbee (2014-15).

Second-year transfer quarterback Jackson joins a Tennessee-Indiana pipeline of student-athletes to help both schools assemble their rosters. Kicker Charles Campbell transferred to the Vols from Indiana during the offseason to help fill a void on roster after Chase McGrath’s eligibility ended after 2022.2022 tight end prospect Brody Foleyalso flipped his commitment from Tennessee to Indiana.

Vols’ quarterback room in 2023

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Jackson would have been in his second season within Tennessee’s program under Heupel after being a highly-touted recruit.

Heupel’s decision for the Vols’ 2023 quarterback room consisting of redshirt senior Joe Milton III, highly-touted freshman Nico Iamaleava and UCF redshirt junior transfer Gaston Moore highlights his confidence in the three student-athletes.

Tennessee’s 2023 regular-season record projection

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Below is a record projection for Tennessee in 2023.

Virginia

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Date: Sept. 2

Location: Nissan Stadium — Nashville, Tennessee

Series: Tennessee leads, 3-1

Virginia by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 3-7
Offensive returning starters: 5
Defensive returning starters: 8
Returning lettermen: 42
Offensive returning lettermen: 17
Defensive returning lettermen: 22
Special teams returning lettermen: 3
Added transfers: 9

Projection: W

Former Tennessee running back signee Cody Brown enters second season at Virginia

Austin Peay

Henry Taylor/USA TODAY Network

Date: Sept. 9

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: Tennessee leads, 1-0

Final 2022 record: 7-4

Projection: W

*FCS opponent

Florida

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Sept. 16

Location: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium — Gainesville, Florida

Series: Florida leads, 31-21

Florida by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 6-7
Offensive returning starters: 6
Defensive returning starters: 5
Returning lettermen: 41
Offensive returning lettermen: 19
Defensive returning lettermen: 18
Special teams returning lettermen: 4
Added transfers: 12

Projection: W

For more on Florida visit Gators Wire

UTSA

John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Date: Sept. 23

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: First meeting

UTSA by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 11-3
Offensive returning starters: 8
Defensive returning starters: 8
Returning lettermen: 51
Offensive returning lettermen: 20
Defensive returning lettermen: 29
Special teams returning lettermen: 2
Added transfers: 9

Projection: W

South Carolina

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Date: Sept. 30

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: Tennessee leads, 28-11-2

South Carolina by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 8-5
Offensive returning starters: 6
Defensive returning starters: 4
Returning lettermen: 37
Offensive returning lettermen: 13
Defensive returning lettermen: 20
Special teams returning lettermen: 4
Added transfers: 11

Projection: W

PHOTOS: Tennessee-South Carolina football series through the years

Open date

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Oct. 7

Tennessee by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 11-2
Offensive returning starters: 5
Defensive returning starters: 7
Returning lettermen: 62
Offensive returning lettermen: 27
Defensive returning lettermen: 32
Special teams returning lettermen: 3
Added transfers: 8

Heupel in games after an open date at Tennessee:

Oct. 8, 2022: Tennessee 40, LSU 13 (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Nov. 6, 2021: Tennessee 45, Kentucky 42 (Lexington, Kentucky)

PHOTOS: Josh Heupel wins national championship at Oklahoma

Texas A&M

Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Date: Oct. 14

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: Tied, 2-2

Texas A&M by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 5-7
Offensive returning starters: 10
Defensive returning starters: 10
Returning lettermen: 54
Offensive returning lettermen: 26
Defensive returning lettermen: 25
Special teams returning lettermen: 3
Added transfers: 15

Projection: W

Alabama

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Oct. 21

Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium — Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Series: Alabama leads, 59-39-7

Alabama by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 11-2
Offensive returning starters: 5
Defensive returning starters: 5
Returning lettermen: 36
Offensive returning lettermen: 17
Defensive returning lettermen: 15
Special teams returning lettermen: 4
Added transfers: 5

Projection: W

For more on Alabama visit Roll Tide Wire

Kentucky

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Oct. 28

Location: Kroger Field — Lexington, Kentucky

Series: Tennessee leads, 83-26-9

Kentucky by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 7-6
Offensive returning starters: 10
Defensive returning starters: 5
Returning lettermen: 36
Offensive returning lettermen: 15
Defensive returning lettermen: 19
Special teams returning lettermen: 2
Added transfers: 13

Projection: W

PHOTOS: Tennessee-Kentucky football series through the years

UConn

Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images

Date: Nov. 4 (Homecoming)

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: First meeting

UConn by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 6-7
Offensive returning starters: 9
Defensive returning starters: 8
Returning lettermen: 46
Offensive returning lettermen: 22
Defensive returning lettermen: 21
Special teams returning lettermen: 3
Added transfers: 12

Projection: W

Missouri

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Nov. 11

Location: Memorial Stadium — Columbia, Missouri

Series: Tennessee leads, 6-5

Missouri by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 6-7
Offensive returning starters: 7
Defensive returning starters: 8
Returning lettermen: 37
Offensive returning lettermen: 17
Defensive returning lettermen: 19
Special teams returning lettermen: 1
Added transfers: 8

Projection: W

PHOTOS: Tennessee-Missouri football series through the years

Georgia

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Date: Nov. 18

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: Georgia leads, 27-23-2

Georgia by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 15-0
Offensive returning starters: 6
Defensive returning starters: 7
Returning lettermen: 54
Offensive returning lettermen: 25
Defensive returning lettermen: 26
Special teams returning lettermen: 3
Added transfers: 4

Projection: L

For more on Georgia visit UGA Wire

Vanderbilt

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Date: Nov. 25

Location: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

Series: Tennessee leads, 79-32-5

Vanderbilt by the numbers:

Final 2022 record: 5-7
Offensive returning starters: 7
Defensive returning starters: 8
Returning lettermen: 56
Offensive returning lettermen: 28
Defensive returning lettermen: 31
Special teams returning lettermen: 4
Added transfers: 3

Projection: W

PHOTOS: Tennessee-Vanderbilt football series through the years