Postgame Notes: #20 Tennessee 31, Florida 11

Photo by: Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

November 22, 2025 | Football

TENNESSEE FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
Nov. 22, 2025 | Gainesville, Fla. | Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
FINAL SCORE: No. 20/20/20 Tennessee 31, Florida 11

General Notes

Saturday's attendance at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium: 90,465 (sold out)
Tennessee's all-time on-field improved to 894-420-53 with Saturday's win (NCAA record: 883-420-53).
With Saturday's victory, Tennessee earned at least three road SEC wins in a single season for the first time since 2006.
The Vols secured at least a .500 record in SEC play for the fifth straight season and all five seasons under Josh Heupel – the longest streak for the program since doing so in 16 consecutive seasons from 1989-2004.
Saturday's contest marked the 55th meeting between Tennessee and Florida, including matchups in 36 consecutive seasons dating back to 1990.
- The Vols earned their first win in Gainesville over the Gators since 2003, snapping a 10-game skid in the Swamp.
- Including last season's victory in Knoxville, Tennessee secured back-to-back wins over Florida for the first time since 2003-04.
- The 20-point win tied UT's largest margin of victory in 23 road meetings against Florida, equaling the previous 20-0 triumph in 1955.
- Saturday's contest was the latest calendar meeting between the two teams in the Swamp since Dec. 1, 2001 – a 34-32 victory for the Vols.
- Josh Heupel joined Gen. Robert Neyland as the only UT head coaches to defeat Florida in at least three out of their first five contests against the Gators. The General was 6-0 all-time vs. Florida.
- Heupel improved to 9-2 as a head coach against teams from the state of Florida (3-2 vs. Florida, 3-0 vs. USF, 2-0 vs. FAU, 1-0 vs. Florida A&M). Heupel also owns a 21-5 record as a head coach in games played in the state of Florida (18-3 at UCF, 3-2 at Tennessee).
Tennessee improved to 37-12 when playing as a ranked team under Josh Heupel. The Vols are now 34-5 vs. unranked teams during his tenure, including 11 straight wins.
Tennessee improved to 16-0 under Josh Heupel against teams under .500 at the time of the meeting. The Vols have won 17 in a row vs. under .500 teams at the time of the meeting.

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

Tennessee's team captains for Saturday's game: DL Dominic Bailey, RB DeSean Bishop, LB Ben Bolton, LB Jeremiah Telander
Florida won the toss and elected to defer the opening kickoff. Tennessee received the ball defending the north end zone.

Team Offensive Notes

The Volunteers produced a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession, capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Joey Aguilar to TE Ethan Davis.
- Tennessee has now scored a touchdown on its opening drive in seven of its 11 games this season.
Tennessee outscored Florida 14-0 in the first quarter and has now outscored its opponents 159-45 in the opening quarter this season.
With a 21-yard reception in the first quarter, WR Mike Matthews became the third Tennessee player to surpass 700 yards receiving on the year, marking the first time in program history the Vols have had three players with more than 700 yards receiving in the same season.
- The only SEC program to accomplish that feat since 2020 is Ole Miss (in 2023, 2024). Heupel's 2019 UCF team achieved the feat, as well, and Missouri did it in 2017 when Heupel was the offensive coordinator.
UT finished the game with 248 total rushing yards, marking the fifth time this season (second in SEC play) that it has eclipsed the 200-yard mark on the ground.
The Volunteers finished with 452 yards of offense, the 48th time in Heupel's five seasons at the helm they eclipsed the 400-yard mark.

Individual Offensive Notes

Senior QB Joey Aguilar finished Saturday's contest completing 17-of-22 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown. His performance put him over 3,000 passing yards for the year.
- Aguilar is the fifth player in Tennessee history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. Five players have combined to do it six times at Tennessee: Peyton Manning (1996, '97), Tyler Bray (2012), Erik Ainge (2007), Hendon Hooker (2022) and Aguilar (2025).
- With his 204 yards of total offense today, Aguilar now has 3,264 yards of total offense for the season. He currently ranks seventh in Tennessee single-season history.
- Aguilar has at least one touchdown pass in all 11 games this season and has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 22 consecutive games dating back to his 2024 season opener while playing for App State.
- His 11-game streak ties Erik Ainge (2004-05) and Peyton Manning (1996) for sixth place in program history for consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass.
- Aguilar has thrown for more than 200 yards in all 35 of his FBS starts, which is the longest active streak in Division I.
- Aguilar opened the contest completing 10 consecutive passes – his second longest streak of completions this season. He previously went 14-of-14 to start the game against Georgia on Sept. 13, which was the third-longest streak in program history.
Redshirt sophomore RB DeSean Bishop finished with a career-high 24 rushing attempts for 116 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday night. Bishop surpassed his previous career high in carries (16) with 19 in the first half alone.
- Bishop has now rushed for 100-plus yards in three games this season and four times in his career.
- It was Bishop's fourth game of the season with multiple rushing touchdowns, finding pay dirt for the 11th and 12th times this season.
  - Bishop capped Tennessee's second and third drives with leaping 1-yard TD rushes to give the Vols a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
  - He is the fourth player in the Heupel era to have 10-plus rushing touchdowns in a single campaign, joining Dylan Sampson (2024), Jabari Small (2022) and Jaylen Wright (2022) as the three other Volunteers to achieve the feat during that span.
WR Mike Matthews finished with three receptions for 45 yards, surpassing 700 yards receiving for the year and giving Tennessee three receivers with 700-plus receiving yards in a season for the first time in school history.
- He joined Chris Brazzell II (926) and Braylon Staley (771) in the 700-yard club.
RB Star Thomas recorded his longest rush of the season with a 52-yard dash down the right sideline to convert a third-and-17 and set up his own 1-yard TD run one play later to give UT a 28-0 second-quarter lead.
Redshirt sophomore TE Ethan Davis tied his career-high with 5 catches for a career-best 72 yards and a touchdown on Saturday.
- Davis recorded a pair of receptions for 35 yards on UT's opening drive of the game and capped the possession with a 23-yard catch and run for a touchdown to put the Vols ahead 7-0 following the PAT. The touchdown catch was the second of the year for Davis and fourth of his career.

Team Defensive Notes

The Vols limited the Gators to 261 yards of total offense – registering their fewest yards allowed against an SEC opponent this season.
Four players combined for six TFLs in the victory, including two sacks. The Vols have posted at least six TFLs in 10 of 11 games this season.
Tennessee's defense did not allow a point in the first quarter for the second straight game and pitched a first-half shutout.
- The Vols limited the Gators to just one yard of total offense in the first quarter and 110 yards for the half.

Individual Defensive Notes

Junior LB Jeremiah Telander led all players with 10 total tackles on Saturday, tying his career high set last season in the CFP First Round matchup at Ohio State.
Senior DL Tyre West led UT with two TFLs in the victory, tying his career-best for the fifth time and second time this season.

Special Teams Notes

Redshirt sophomore PK Max Gilbert went 4-of-4 on extra points in the victory, moving to 111-of-111 in his career. He also connected on a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Redshirt junior P Jackson Ross punted two times for 90 yards, with both punts downed inside the 20. He had a 41-yard punt downed at the 1-yard line in the third quarter. His longest punt of the night went for 49 yards.

Career Highs

The following players set or tied career highs in the respective statistical categories listed below:

Offense

RB DeSean Bishop
- 24 rushing attempts
- 2 rushing TDs (ties career high)
TE Ethan Davis
- 5 receptions (ties career high)
- 72 receiving yards (previous high 62)
- 1 receiving TD (ties carer high)
WR Mike Matthews
- 1 rushing attempt (ties career high)
- 20 rushing yards
- 20-yard rush
RB Daune Morris
- 14 rushing attempts (previous high 9)

Defense/Special Teams

DL Caleb Herring
- 1 QB hurry (ties career high)
DL Daevin Hobbs
- 1.5 TFL (ties career high)
- 1.0 sack (ties career high)
DB Jalen McMurray
- 1 QB hurry (ties career high)
DL Jaxson Moi
- 1 QB hurry (ties career high)
LB Edwin Spillman
- 1.0 TFL (ties career high)
- 1.0 sack (ties career high)
LB Jeremiah Telander
- 10 tackles (ties career high)
DL Tyre West
- 2.0 TFLs (ties career high)