This isn't the first time Tennessee has had to replace a starter on short notice — it's the program's fifth different quarterback situation in as many seasons — and Neyland has bailed the Vols out before. Texas, for its part, has spent September proving it can survive without style points: a rout of Texas State, a wild comeback over Ohio State, then a business-like win over UTSA that had Manning himself grading it below standard.
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Texas's résumé through three games is about as loud as a résumé gets — the No. 1 ranking, the comeback over Ohio State, a 305-yard, 4-touchdown opener against Texas State. Manning wasn't nearly as sharp against UTSA, throwing for only 161 yards in a 30-6 win he later called "not good enough," which reads either as a perfectionist's gripe or a hint that the Ohio State performance flattered the group around him.
- QuestionableD. McCutcheon (WR) — McCutcheon is ailing from an illness, and it is unclear if he will play against the UTSA on Saturday, September 19th.09/13
- QuestionableT. Goosby (OG) — Goosby is dealing with a knee injury, and it is unknown if he will suit up against the UTSA on Saturday, September 19th.09/13
- QuestionableD. Cooper (RB) — Cooper is hampered by a foot injury, and it is up in the air if he will kit up in the season opening clash against the UTSA on Saturday, September 19th.09/13
- OutN. Townsend (TE) — Townsend is hampered by a knee injury, and he is unlikely to suit up against UTSA on Saturday, September 19th.09/18
- QuestionableJ. Baker (RB) — Baker is nursing with a hand injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be active against Texas on Saturday.09/20
- QuestionableJ. Gordon (RB) — Gordon is dealing with a leg injury, and it is unclear whether he will play against Texas on Saturday.09/20
- OutJ. Harmon (LB) — Harmon has been shut down for the remainder of the season due to ACL tear.09/07
Tennessee's headline injury is really a quarterback swap: Aguilar, who threw for 3,565 yards and 24 touchdowns behind an offense that averaged 39.8 points a game a season ago, won't play another down for the Volunteers. Whoever replaces him walks into a home game against the No. 1 team in the country, in front of the loudest crowd he'll see all year, with almost no margin for the kind of shaky half that got Manning through against UTSA.
Both programs are treating this as one of their bigger tests of the young season, even if the Polymarket room around the game has stayed quiet so far with six days still on the clock. That figures to change fast — a ranked SEC matchup at Neyland with a new quarterback under center is exactly the kind of game that fills up in the final 48 hours.