The 2025 season's largest margin: Tennessee 72, East Tennessee State 17. A 55-point win — the year's high-water mark.
2025 — The Winning Chapter
Tennessee's 2025 season (8-5) is a middle chapter: table-stakes progress, no crown in the ledger, the program still writing the book.
The Shape — week-by-week · cumulative W–L below
Who carried it
- Joey AguilarQB3,565 passing yards
- DeSean BishopRB1,076 rushing yards
- Star ThomasRB596 rushing yards
- Peyton LewisRB290 rushing yards
- Chris Brazzell IIWR1,017 receiving yards
- Braylon StaleyWR837 receiving yards
- Mike MatthewsWR813 receiving yards
- Edwin SpillmanLB81 tackles
- Jeremiah TelanderLB80 tackles
- Edrees FarooqDB76 tackles
- Dominic BaileyDL4.5 sacks
- Caleb HerringDL4 sacks
- Tyre WestDL4 sacks
Season leaders, 2025.
The season's deepest loss: Tennessee 24, Vanderbilt 45. A 21-point margin the season is remembered by.
The season's last act: Tennessee fell to Illinois 28-30 in the postseason.
"Rocky Top plays. It is not a cute song — it is a contract."
2025 is a middle chapter for Tennessee — neither a crown year nor a crisis. It is the kind of season that fills the ledger between the named ones and gives the arc its shape.