One of the downsides to the massive conferences is the inability to get football programs to venues across the leagues.
LSU has not traveled to Knoxville since 2017. That was a rain-soaked slog of a game that the Tigers won by 20 as Tennessee attempted to pry itself from the decade of disaster post-Phillip Fulmer.
The Vols did trek to Baton Rouge in 2022 and hammered LSU in a morning kickoff in Death Valley behind Hendon Hooker’s brilliant play.
LSU will be on Rocky Top the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Temperatures figure to be chilly, but the stakes could be high. Josh Heupel got the Vols to the College Football Playoff two years ago. The expectation is for a little bit more from this program.
Mid-November matchups between powerful programs are a benefit of the bloated leagues. We’ll get that on November 21 between the checkerboard endzones.
WARMER WELCOME?
Lane Kiffin named his son after Knoxville. He took the Tennessee job, made big headlines for a year and then bolted in the night for USC. That was a huge story in 2021 when Kiffin returned as Ole Miss’s head coach.
Vols fans infamously fired beverages, batteries and a mustard bottle at the former coach. This time around, that reunion isn’t even mentioned as all the attention is focused on Kiffin’s return to Oxford in September.
Tennessee fans still have no love lost for Kiffin and share a new bond with Rebel fans over his departure from both schools. Depending on how things go in Oxford, the Kiffin return may be played up again leading up to this game. It’s old news in a way, but that scab could be ripped off Week 3.
RUN ON ROCKY TOP
Heupel’s best teams run the ball.
In 2024, the Vols made the College Football Playoff leading the SEC in rushing at five yards per carry. They posted a 10-2 record in the regular season. Last year, they dropped to 7th in the SEC in yards per carry and finished 8-4.
The 2022 team that featured a high-flying Hooker-led aerial attack ran for 40 touchdowns. That was second best in the SEC despite finishing eighth in the league in yards per carry. The Volunteers have to get back to that.
DeSean Bishop, a former walk on, returns after a second team All-SEC season. Javin Gordon comes over from Tulane where he started six games as a freshman for a playoff team. He’ll play a role.
DISAPPEARING DAWGS?
Heupel has conquered some of Tennessee’s demons in his time on Rocky Top.
The Vols have won three of four against Florida. The Gators had won 16 of 17 prior to that. Tennessee has beaten Alabama in Knoxville twice in a row. Alabama had won 15 straight overall before that. Georgia still owns Tennessee.
The Bulldogs have won nine in a row over Tennessee and 14 of 16.
Guess what? In the new nine-game format, Georgia isn’t on the schedule. Texas, Alabama, Auburn and LSU will come to Neyland Stadium. The Vols go to Texas A&M, Arkansas, South Carolina, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
It’s a road-heavy nine games, and Tennessee will play Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. That’s six in hostile territory, so it’s not easy. But avoiding Georgia has to be good for the Tennessee fan’s heart.
