Tennessee and Illinois will square off in Nashville on Tuesday at 5:30 eastern time in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl. The Vols returned to the practice field on Saturday afternoon, and you can watch the highlights provided by the Tennessee Athletics Communications Department below.
“It’s an opportunity through the month of December to continue to grow, get better fundamentals, technique inside of the scheme,” Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel said on Saturday. “Bowl games, young guys get a lot of opportunity in the preparation, but also on game day too. Obviously, it’s the last chance for us to compete with this team together in this 2025 season. In some ways it’s, it’s built up to the following year.”
“I think a lot of times in December you get a glimpse of where they’re continuing to grow,” Heupel added on getting more of a look at younger guys. “Last time we were here, Jalin Hyatt was a great example and that’s a story we actually talked to our team about pretty much every single year. One that I share with our young guys. That guy that had a little bit of up and down during the course of the (2021) season and his focus, his preparation, his work habits during the month of December – dramatically different. Expected him to play really well when we got here. He obviously did and that was the springboard to his following season.”
Tennessee Opt Outs for the Bowl
Jermod McCoy: Did not play this season after tearing his ACL during offseason training in January. He was a star last season with 44 tackles, nine passes defended and four interceptions. He had 31 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a freshman at Oregon State before transferring to Tennessee.
Chris Brazzell II: He a breakout senior season in his second year with the Vols, catching 62 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 19 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, after transferring from Tulane. In 15 games at Tulane he caught 45 passes for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Brazzell is ranked No. 7 at wide receiver on Mel Kiper Jr.’s NFL Draft Big Board. He’s ranked No. 34 overall on ESPN’s list of the best available prospects in the draft.
Arion Carter: Carter over the last seasons had 96 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 31 career games. He had a team-high 76 tackles this season, with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games. He missed two games and was limited against Oklahoma in November while dealing with turf toe injuries. Carter had 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season and 17 tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss in eight games as a freshman in 2023.
Colton Hood: Hood announced on social media on Wednesday that he will be entering the NFL Draft. The Colorado transfer had a breakout season at Tennessee, finishing with 50 tackles, eight passes defended and two defensive touchdowns, taking an interception back for a score and returning a fumble for a touchdown. He’s ranked by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 6 cornerback in the draft class.
Joshua Josephs: In 48 games over the last four seasons, Josephs finished with 104 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. This season he had 33 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and a career-high 4.0 sacks. He had nine tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 2024, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in 2023 and 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks in 2022. He returned a fumble 41 yards for a touchdown this season at Mississippi State and had four fumble recoveries, six fumbles forced and nine passes defended during his career.