Postgame Notes: #19 Tennessee 24, #14 Vanderbilt 45

KNOXVILLE, TN - November 29, 2025 - Tight end Ethan Davis #0 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

November 29, 2025 | Football

TENNESSEE FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
Nov. 29, 2025 | Knoxville, Tenn. | Neyland Stadium
FINAL SCORE: No. 18/18/19 Tennessee 24, No. 12/12/14 Vanderbilt 45
General Notes

Saturday's attendance at Neyland Stadium: 101,915 (sold out)
- Neyland Stadium was sold out for the 27th consecutive contest, culminating a third straight season that the venue was sold out for every game.
Tennessee's all-time on-field record fell to 894-421-53 with Saturday's loss (NCAA record: 883-421-53).
Josh Heupel coached his 100th game as a head coach (UCF and Tennessee) in Saturday's contest.
Saturday's contest marked the 119th meeting between Tennessee and Vanderbilt in a series that dates back to 1892. The two teams have played every year since 1945.
- It was the first matchup between Tennessee and Vanderbilt in which both teams were ranked at the time of meeting.
- The Vols and Commodores met in the final week of the season for the 66th time. Tennessee is 56-9-1 on the field in those meetings.
A total of 17 Vols participated in a Senior Day pregame ceremony. They include (in order of presentation): RB Star Thomas, DB William Wright, TE Seamus Meagher, DB/student coach Jourdan Thomas, OL Gus Hill, DB Andre Turrentine, WR Chris Brazzell II, QB Joey Aguilar, DB Montrell Bandy, OL Brian Grant, DL Tyre West, DL Bryson Eason, DL Jaxson Moi, DB Jalen McMurray, TE Miles Kitselman, DL Dominic Bailey and DL Joshua Josephs.

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

Tennessee's team captains for Saturday's game: DL Dominic Bailey, DL Bryson Eason, OL Jesse Perry, DB William Wright
Vanderbilt won the toss and elected to defer the opening kickoff. Tennessee received the ball, defending the north end zone.

Team Offensive Notes

Senior QB Joey Aguilar hit redshirt junior WR Chris Brazzell II for a game-tying 52-yard score with 10:34 left in the second quarter. It marked the team's ninth 50-yard passing play of the season.
- Tennessee has now posted at least nine 50-yard passing plays in three of Josh Heupel's five years at the helm. The Volunteers had nine in 2021 and 15 in 2022.

Individual Offensive Notes

Redshirt freshman WR Braylon Staley caught six passes for 35 yards. He upped his season total to 64 receptions, tying Kelley Washington (2001) for the most by a freshman - true or redshirt - in Tennessee history.
- Staley is now tied with Washington and Cedric Tillman (2021) for No. 10 on the program's single-season receptions leaderboard.
  - Of the 14 instances of a Tennessee player amassing 62-plus catches in a season, five of them are in the Heupel era.
Redshirt sophomore RB DeSean Bishop punched in a 2-yard score with 3:49 left in the first quarter, his 13th rushing touchdown of the season. He then added a 35-yard score with 7:51 remaining in the second stanza, upping his mark to 14 in 2025.
- The 14 rushing touchdowns for Bishop are tied with William Howard (1986) and Harold Payne (1951) for the fifth-most rushing touchdowns in a single season in Tennessee history.
- Bishop is the third Volunteer with 13-plus rushing touchdowns in the Heupel era, joining Dylan Sampson (22 in 2024) and Jabari Small (13 in 2022).
  - In the 30 seasons before Heupel took over, 1991-2020, just one Volunteer amassed 13 rushing touchdowns in a season. Montario Hardesty had exactly 13 in 2009.
  - In addition, Bishop and Sampson give Tennessee back-to-back seasons with a Volunteer amassing 14-plus rushing touchdowns. The last Tennessee player to hit that mark before them was Tony Thompson, who had 16 in 1990.
- Bishop has now registered multiple rushing touchdowns in five separate contests this season.
  - Tennessee has now had a player with at least five multi-rushing touchdown games in season in back-to-back years. Dylan Sampson achieved the feat seven times in 2024.
    - No other Tennessee player this century has posted greater than four such outings in a season. Joshua Dobbs (2016), Alvin Kamara (2016) and Travis Henry (2000) all did it four times.
- In addition, Bishop finished the game with 20 carries for 97 yards. It marked the fifth outing with 95-plus yards in his career, including the fourth in 2025.
Redshirt junior WR Chris Brazzell II hauled in six catches for 91 yards and one touchdown, giving him 1,017 receiving yards on the season.
- Brazzell is the 10th player—11th instance—in Tennessee history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. He is the third to do it in the Heupel era, following Biletnikoff winner Jalin Hyatt (2022) and Cedric Tillman (2021).
Senior QB Joey Aguilar finished Saturday's contest completing 29-of-44 passes for 299 yards and one touchdown. His performance put him over 10,000 passing yards in his FBS career.
- In addition, Aguilar now has 3,444 passing yards this season, eclipsing Peyton Manning (3,287 in 1996) for fourth place on the Tennessee single-season leaderboard.
Aguilar's 299 yards gave him a 36th consecutive start with 200-plus passing yards. He has achieved the feat in every FBS start of his career, and it is the longest active streak in Division I.
Redshirt sophomore TE Ethan Davis hauled in seven catches for 85 yards, setting new career highs in both categories.
- Davis posted five-plus catches in a game for the third time this month after never previously amassing more than two receptions in a contest.
- The 73 yards for Davis eclipsed the prior best of 72 he set just one week ago at Florida.

Team Defensive Notes

A total of 19 Volunteers tallied at least one tackle in the contest, with 14 of them posting multiple takedowns.

Individual Defensive Notes

Sophomore DB Edrees Farooq recorded the second interception of his career on Vanderbilt's first drive, picking off a pass at the 1-yard-line.
On the first snap of Vanderbilt's drive after Tennessee tied the score in the second quarter, freshman DB Ty Redmond came away with his third interception of the season.
- Bryce Thompson is the last Tennessee freshman with three interceptions in a season, hitting that mark in 2018.
Freshman DB Ty Redmond, after recording one pass breakup against Vanderbilt, now has 10 on the season, the most by a Volunteer since Theo Jackson had 12 in 2021.
Junior LB Arion Carter finished the night with 2.0 TFLs, a new career high. He recorded his prior best of 1.5 on four occasions.
Redshirt senior DB Andre Turrentine posted a game-best 10 tackles. It marked his fourth double-digit total as a collegian, all of which have come this season.

Special Teams Notes

Redshirt sophomore PK Max Gilbert went 3-of-3 on extra points in the victory, moving to 114-of-114 in his career. He also connected on a 25-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Career Highs

The following players set or tied career highs in the respective statistical categories listed below:

Offense

TE Ethan Davis
- 7 receptions
- 85 receiving yards

Defense/Special Teams

DB Edrees Farooq
- 1 interception (ties career high)
DB Ty Redmond
- 1 fumble recovery
- 1 interception (ties career high)
LB Arion Carter
- 2.0 TFLs
- 1 QB hurry (ties career high)
LB Jeremiah Telander
- 1.0 TFL (ties career high)
- 0.5 sacks (ties career high)
DL Caleb Herring
- 1 QB hurry (ties career high)
- 1 pass defended (ties career high)