No. 24 Tennessee has decided on its new starting quarterback. Joey Aguilar, who transferred in from UCLA following the departure of Nico Iamaleava, will lead the offense onto the field when the Vols open their season against Syracuse in Atlanta on Aug. 30, the program announced.
Aguilar transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in the winter and then from UCLA to Tennessee in the spring once Iamaleava committed to play for the Bruins. Aguilar beat out redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the job. Despite being a recent addition to the roster, Aguilar was considered to be the favorite due to his experience as a multi-year starter at App State.
Tennessee infamously lost Iamaleava, the former five-star recruit, to the transfer portal after he failed to renegotiate a new NIL deal, leading the Long Beach native to enroll at UCLA. Iamaleava will now be replaced by the quarterback once viewed as the front-runner to win the UCLA job.
2025 College Football Conference Power Rankings: SEC still clings onto top spot as Big Ten asserts dominance
Cody Nagel
Aguilar began his college career at City College of San Francisco and Diablo Valley before finding his way to App State. He was ranked as the No. 85 quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason. The 24-year-old signal-caller went 13-11 in 24 starts made at App State over two seasons, and threw for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. Those 6,760 passing yards over the past two seasons are the most by any returning FBS player, but his 31 turnovers over the last two years are also tied for most in the FBS.
This past season, the Vols won double-digit games for the second time in the last three years, and made the new-look College Football Playoff as a No. 9 seed. However, they were blown out by the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, 42-17, in the first round. Josh Heupel’s offense has ranked in the top 20 in total yards per game in each of his four seasons in Knoxville, including when the Vols registered an FBS-leading 525.5 yards per game back in 2022. Now, he has tasked Aguilar with leading this group.
Read the full article here
