Aguilar passes for 3 TDs as No. 24 Tennessee beats Syracuse

ATLANTA (AP) — Joey Aguilar passed for 247 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 24 Tennessee held off Syracuse for a 45-26 win on Saturday.

Aguilar was 16-for-28 passing in his first game with the Volunteers. He threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Staley in the second quarter and found Star Thomas for a 7-yard TD in the third. He also helped close out the win when he passed to Miles Kitselman for a 2-yard TD in the fourth.

Star Thomas had 92 yards on 12 carries for Tennessee, which opened a 38-14 lead in the third. DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis each rushed for a TD.

Tennessee (1-0) rolled to 493 yards of offense, compared to 377 for Syracuse (0-1).

Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli was 23 for 40 for 247 yards and a touchdown in his first start with the Orange. He also threw an interception and was sacked five times.

The Volunteers played without true freshman offensive lineman David Sanders Jr., who was inactive with an undisclosed injury. Sanders was the No. 1 tackle in the 2025 class and was slated to make his debut.

Syracuse's Yasin Willis rushed for 91 yards and three touchdowns. He cut Tennessee's lead to 38-26 with a 1-yard TD with 11:54 left, but the Orange came up empty on the conversion attempt.

Takeaways

Syracuse: Angeli and Willis tried to rally Syracuse to the win, but it dropped its opener for the first time since the school lost 31-6 at North Carolina in its first game of the 2020 season. Syracuse also has No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 10 Miami on its challenging schedule.

Tennessee: It was a solid day for Aguilar, who looked quite comfortable while directing coach Josh Heupel’s offense.

Up next

Syracuse hosts UConn on Sept. 6.

Tennessee hosts East Tennessee State on Sept. 6.

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