Each week, Rocky Top Insider will take a look at how all 12 opponents from Tennessee’s 2023 schedule fared.
From Georgia to UConn, let’s take a look at how the Vols’ 2023 opponents in the second week of the college football season.
Week 1 Opponent: Virginia Cavaliers
After overcoming a 14-0 deficit to take a 35-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter, James Madison came back to beat the Cavaliers 36-35 in Charlottesville. Virginia is now 0-2 to start year two of the Tony Elliott era.
Week 2 Opponent: Austin Peay Governors
After putting up a good fight in the first half, the Governors lost 30-13 to Tennessee in Neyland Stadium. Austin Peay is 0-2 to start the season.
Week 3 Opponent: Florida Gators
Florida won their first game of the season with a 49-7 throttling over McNeese State in Week 2.
Week 4 Opponent: UTSA Roadrunners
UTSA won a close one against a solid Texas State team, 20-13, at home. The Roadrunners are 1-1 to start the season after losing to Houston by three points in Week 1.
Week 5 Opponent: South Carolina Gamecocks
Despite early struggles, South Carolina went on to cruise to a 47-21 victory over Furman. The Gamecocks are 1-1 to begin the year.
Week 6 Opponent: Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M lost on the road to Miami, 48-33. Despite another solid offensive performance, the Aggies’ defense looked very suspect as the lost their first game of the season.
Week 7 Opponent: Alabama Crimson Tide
The Texas Longhorns snapped Alabama’s 21-game home winning streak dating back to 2019 with a convincing 34-24 victory. It is Nick Saban’s first non-conference regular season home loss since 2007. Additionally, Alabama had never lost by double digits at home in the Nick Saban era until Saturday.
Alabama is now 1-1 on the season.
Week 8 Opponent: Kentucky Wildcats
In an ugly, unconvincing effort, Kentucky beat FCS team Eastern Kentucky 28-17 in Lexington to improve to 2-0.
Week 9 Opponent: UConn Huskies
UConn dropped to 0-2 on the season with a 35-14 blowout loss to Georgia State on the road.
Week 10 Opponent: Missouri Tigers
It wasn’t pretty, but Missouri improved to 2-0 with a close 23-19 win over MTSU, holding off the Blue Raiders’ fourth-quarter comeback bid.
Week 11 Opponent: Georgia Bulldogs
After not scoring in the first quarter, Georgia went on to throttle Ball State 45-3 to improve to 2-0.
Week 12 Opponent: Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt lost their first game of the season in a 36-20 defeat to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. The Commodores went 0-2 against the Demon Deacons in the home-and-home series.
