With two weeks until No. 24 Tennessee kicks off its season against Syracuse in Atlanta, coach Josh Heupel has yet to name a starting quarterback. If Saturday morning’s scrimmage in Neyland Stadium gave him any clarity, Heupel didn’t let it show while speaking with reporters afterward.
UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, who started the last two seasons at Appalachian State, and redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger are the two main candidates for the Vols’ starting job with a recent training camp scrimmage in the books.
“I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well, (true freshman George MacIntyre) did as well,” Heupel said. “I thought they’ve taken strides over the last three practices before we got inside of the stadium for today’s scrimmage.
“We operated with crowd noise and some of those mechanics, so there was more on their plate. They handled it well. Been good decision-makers and have continued to grow, both in understanding what we’re doing, defensive structure and consistently being accurate with the football.”
When asked whether he sees any separation between Aguilar and Merklinger, Heupel deflected and said the team has faith in all three quarterbacks on the roster.
“This football believes in that group of guys too – who they are, how they lead and how they compete every single day,” Heupel said.
While Heupel remained tight-lipped on which quarterback has the inside track for the starting job, our own Matt Zenitz recently reported that Aguilar has the edge over Merklinger. Aguilar, who got a late start with the Vols after coming over in what amounted to a trade after Nico Iamaleava departed for UCLA, seems to be settling into Heupel’s offense.
“I thought he handled himself very well,” Heupel said of Aguilar. “That’s today. I think he’s gotten better from Day 1 up until today’s scrimmage every single day. Comfort. Control. He’s handled himself extremely well during our night walkthroughs, which is mental focus, a mental sweat. Because of that, he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now.”
Aguilar comes to Knoxville with plenty of experience. In 25 games with the Mountaineers, Aguilar threw for 6,760 yards and 56 touchdowns. Those are encouraging numbers for Tennessee and its fan base.
However, Aguilar also made a habit out of throwing the ball to the other team with 24 interceptions, including an FBS-leading 14 last year. Heupel doesn’t want Aguilar to be timid with the football, but he does want Aguilar to nail down a few key components that could cut down on those turnovers.
“You’re gonna have to make tight throws,” Heupel said of Aguilar’s high interception totals. “To me, interceptions happen when you don’t understand defensive structure, your eyes aren’t in the right spot, fundamentally your body’s not in the right position and you’re not accurate with the football.
“It’s all of those pieces that have to come together for a quarterback to operate efficiently and take care of that football while also being on the right side of the fence of being aggressive and allowing yourself to make plays down the football field.”
Tennessee still has two weeks until its season-opener, and even the team may have some wiggle room to experiment with a couple different quarterbacks. The Vols are a 14.5-point favorite over Syracuse in Week 1, per BetMGM, and they host ETSU in Week 2.
Heupel will probably want to have the quarterback position fully settled by the time Week 3 rolls around because that’s when SEC play begins with a visit from rival Georgia.
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