FB PREVIEW: #15 Vols Open 2024 Campaign with In-State Tilt Against Chattanooga

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It’s Football Time in Tennessee as the 15th-ranked Volunteers kick off the 2024 season against in-state foe Chattanooga at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday inside a sold-out Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee begins its 128th football season on Saturday afternoon when it hosts the Mocs. The season opener will be broadcast on the SEC Network with a special SEC Now show airing field level at noon. The Vols enter the year ranked 15th in both preseason polls and were picked to finish seventh in the expanded 16-team SEC.

NEYLAND STADIUM, PRESERVED BY PILOT

Earlier this month, Tennessee Athletics and Pilot broke new ground in college sports by entering a multi-year partnership that preserves the iconic venue’s name and enhances the stadium experience for future generations. Under the terms of the agreement, which is slated for up to 20 years and could extend further, the names of Neyland Stadium and Shields-Watkins Field remain unchanged. Pilot is designated as the presenting partner of the Neyland Stadium renovation project and the official travel stop of Tennessee Athletics.

Neyland Stadium. Home of the Vols. Proudly preserved by Pilot.

BROADCAST INFO

Saturday’s contest will be televised on the SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour (PxP), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst) and Alyssa Lang (sideline reporter) on the call. Kickoff is slated for 12:47 p.m. ET.

UT fans can listen to Tennessee’s official radio broadcast on the Vol Network (Local: WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) over 65 stations across the state of Tennessee and the southeast, SiriusXM (Ch. 158 or 191) and the SiriusXM app (Ch. 961), as well as the Varsity App. A live audio stream of the broadcast will also be available on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App. Vol Network celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024.

Bob Kesling (PxP), VFL Pat Ryan (analyst) and Brent Hubbs (analyst) will call the action, with VFL Jayson Swain handling sideline duties for the Vol Network radio broadcast. The Big Orange Countdown pregame show begins two hours prior to kickoff at 10:45 a.m. The pregame show is hosted by John Wilkerson, Brent Hubbs, VFL Jayson Swain and a rotating VFL special guest each week.

GAMEDAY INFO / TIMELINE

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee’s 2024 gameday policies, please visit the Tennessee Football Gameday Information page on UTSports.com.

The gameday timeline for Saturday is listed below.

Will Call Opens at Gate 21 – 8:45 a.m.
Truly’s Tailgate Opens – 8:45 a.m.
Vol Village Opens – 9:15 a.m.
Vol Walk – 10:30 a.m.
Gates Open – 10:45 a.m.
Pride of the Southland Band March – 11:05 a.m. (Pedestrian Bridge)
Pride of the Southland Band Pregame Performance Begins – 12:33 p.m.
National Anthem/Flyover – 12:35 p.m.
Vols Run Through the T – 12:44 p.m.
Kickoff – 12:47 p.m.

NEW NEYLAND STADIUM FAN ENHANCEMENTS FOR 2024

A host of new fan enhancements will be in place this season.

RockyTopWiFi, Neyland Stadium’s Wi-Fi system, debuted during the 2023 season and is fully functional throughout Neyland Stadium for the 2024 campaign. Fans are encouraged to utilize the network and stay connected on their mobile devices during the game.

Other fan enhancements include but are not limited to upgraded speakers, new televisions, trading cards, commemorative tickets and various concession upgrades throughout the stadium.

For more information on all the new Neyland Stadium fan enhancements for this season, click HERE.

TICKETS AND PARKING

Tickets for Saturday’s game are officially sold out. Tickets and parking passes to all Tennessee Athletics events, including football, are now digital and can be accessed through a mobile device to improve security and reduce the risk of ticket fraud as well as make the process more convenient for fans.

Fans will gain admission into Neyland Stadium via a unique QR code which will be scanned directly from a mobile device. For quick and easy entry into Tennessee Athletics venues, fans are encouraged to download the Tennessee Athletics app from the App Store (iPhone) and Google Play (Android). Your mobile device is the ticket on gameday. All valid digital tickets will display a moving barcode or a hold near reader (tap-and-go) icon. PLEASE NOTE: SCREENSHOTS OF TICKETS WILL NOT SCAN AT THE GATE AND WILL NOT ALLOW ENTRY!

Printed PDF tickets will no longer be issued or accepted for entry at any Tennessee Athletics venue. The only authorized sources for tickets to Tennessee Athletics events are the Tennessee Athletics Ticket Office, AllVols.com, the venue box office where the athletic event is taking place and Ticketmaster.

A complete step-by-step guide on how to best access and use your digital tickets and parking passes, including diagrams and FAQ is available here.

TENNESSEE ATHLETICS APP

Fans are encouraged to download the new and improved Tennessee Athletics App, which houses the GBO Zone, allowing fans to play trivia, take part in stadium light shows and much more.

Search “Tennessee Athletics” in the Apple or Google Play Store or use this LINK to download.

GAMEDAY EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

SEC Now Live from Field Level: A special edition of SEC Now will air live on SEC Network from field level inside Neyland Stadium at noon ET. Hosted by the network’s Peter Burns, SEC Now will cover all of the pageantry of a Neyland Stadium pregame, including visits at Vol Walk and Vol Navy, as well as interviews with head coach Josh Heupel, Director of Athletics Danny White and men’s basketball’s Zakai Zeigler. The 45-minute show will capture the Vols running through the T and lead into kickoff.

Vol Village Presented by Toyota: Vol Village presented by Toyota, serves as the ideal spot to view the Vol Walk and the Pride of Southland Band march. Admission is free to all fans with or without a game ticket. Located across from Circle Park, Vol Village features live music, food trucks and beverage stations, interactive displays and fun activities for all ages.

Vol Village will highlight a new artist or band each home game with a pregame concert series, providing Vol fans with the ultimate pregame atmosphere. Vol Village opens at 9:15 a.m. for Saturday’s game.

Truly’s Tailgate: Located outside Gate 9, fans can stop by for food and drinks at Truly’s Tailgate. Fans may enter Truly’s prior to gates opening without having a ticket scanned. When gates open, fans will need to scan their ticket to enter Truly’s.

New to Truly’s this season is the addition of the Vintage Volunteer Shop, where fans can purchase classic gameday merchandise with all their favorite marks and logos.

Truly’s will open at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday and remain open for the majority of the game, giving fans in the south concourse a variety of food, drinks, television entertainment and additional restroom options. Truly’s will close at the end of the third quarter.

For complete gameday information, visit UTsports.com/gameday.

NEED TO KNOW

“The Volunteer State” Smokey Grey Uniforms Set to Debut
Saturday’s contest will mark the debut of the newest edition of Tennessee’s Smokey Grey uniforms. “The Volunteer State” uniform, an ode to the state and Tennessee’s status as the flagship university, is the second concept of the new Smokey Grey series.

This is the eighth time that the Vols will don Smokey Grey uniforms and the sixth in a Nike version. The Vols also wore Smokey Grey uniforms in 2013 vs. Georgia and Vanderbilt (Adidas), and Nike versions in 2015 (Georgia), 2016 (Florida), 2017 (Georgia), 2022 (LSU) and 2023 (Austin Peay).

For more information on the Vols’ Smokey Grey uniforms, click HERE.

The Neyland Effect
Neyland Stadium is once again one of the nation’s most electric environments and toughest places to play for visiting teams. Over the past two seasons, the Vols are 13-1 inside of its confines, outscoring opponents 640-277. In the Josh Heupel era (since 2021), UT is 18-4 at home and has outscored its opponents 961-451 with 15 of those wins coming by double digits. Tennessee’s 13 home wins since the start of the 2022 season are tied for third in the nation and tied for first in the SEC with Georgia and Alabama.

Neyland Stadium will be sold out for 14^th consecutive game on Saturday afternoon. UT has ranked in the top five nationally in attendance in each of the last two seasons, ranking No. 3 in total attendance (713,405) and No. 4 in average attendance (101,915) while leading the SEC in attendance in 2023.

Vols/Heupel in Season Openers
Tennessee owns a 95-26-6 on-field record all-time in season openers and a 94-26-6 NCAA record in openers (the 2020 opener was vacated by NCAA COI penalty). Josh Heupel is 6-0 in season openers as a head coach, outscoring opponents 313-67. Heupel’s UCF squads defeated UConn (56-17 in 2018), Florida A&M (62-0 in 2019) and Georgia Tech (49-21 in 2020). At UT, Heupel is 3-0 in openers with wins over Bowling Green (38-6 in 2021), Ball State (59-10 in 2022) and Virginia (49-13 in 2023).

Nico at the Helm
The Big Orange are one of two SEC teams (South Carolina) starting a redshirt freshman at quarterback in 2024 as Nico Iamaleava takes the reins. Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit from Long Beach, California, will be making his second career start and first in Neyland Stadium. He will be the first freshman quarterback (true or redshirt) to start an opener for the Vols since true freshman Brent Schaeffer did so versus UNLV on Sept. 5, 2004. Schaeffer and fellow true freshman Erik Ainge combined for three scores in that contest.

In his first career start last time out, Iamaleava accounted for four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) to lead the Vols past Iowa, 35-0, in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. He became the first Vol freshman quarterback to win a bowl game since Peyton Manning beat Virginia Tech in the 1994 Gator Bowl. Iamaleava tied the UT bowl record with three rushing scores, joining Josh Dobbs (2016 Music City Bowl) and James Stewart (1994 Gator Bowl). For the 2023 season, he was 28-of-45 for 314 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions through the air.

Recapping the 2023 Season
In 2023, Tennessee went 9-4 and 4-4 in SEC play to finish third in the SEC East. The Vols finished No. 17 in both the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches polls and dominated Big Ten West champion, then-No. 17 Iowa, 35-0, in the program’s first Citrus Bowl appearance in two decades. It marked the Vols’ first shutout victory in a bowl game since beating Texas A&M, 3-0, in the 1957 Gator Bowl. UT was the only SEC program during the 2023 bowl season to shutout an opponent. The Vols were one of only five SEC programs to be ranked in the final 2022 and 2023 polls, joining Georgia, Alabama, Texas and LSU.

SERIES HISTORY

Tennessee vs. Chattanooga: 39-2-2 (on field) | 38-2-2 (NCAA)
Saturday will mark the 44^th meeting between the Vols and Mocs, including the 34^th time the two programs have faced off in Knoxville. However, this will be just the third contest between the two teams in the last 54 years.

The last meeting between UT and UTC came on Sept. 14, 2019, a 45-0 Vols win, which was one of 11 victories vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions penalty in July 2023. Tennessee has won 10 in a row on the field over Chattanooga dating back to 1959.

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA

Chattanooga, coached by Rusty Wright, enters Saturday’s contest ranked No. 8 in the FCS preseason Coaches poll and No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. The Mocs were projected to win the SoCon, as well, after reaching the second round of the FCS playoffs last season.

UTC returns seven starters on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Chase Artopoeus, who threw for 2,672 yards while completing 62.8 percent of his passes (187-298) with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his 10 games behind center last season. The senior signal caller was the focal point of an offense that ranked fourth in program history in total yards (4,998) and third in passing yards (3,189).

Defensively, the Mocs are led by redshirt senior defensive lineman Marlon Taylor, who was tabbed as the SoCon’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Taylor racked up seven tackles for loss and five sacks as a nose tackle in 2023 and leads a defensive unit that has recorded 103 sacks over the past three seasons, including 36 a year ago.