Kickoff: Saturday, September 5 at 2:30 PM CT
Location: Neyland Stadium
TV: SECN+
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): TENN -46.5
Over/under: 66.5

The setup

Tennessee and Furman have not played since 1942, an 84-year gap. The Vols won both old meetings, when the SEC itself was less than a decade old.

What I’m watching

Furman beat Anderson (SC) 20-3 in Week 0, with Jake Garcia completing 15 of 28 for 183 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT. Furman already established the run, finishing with 268 rushing yards. Tennessee allowed 152.4 rushing yards per game in 2025, which makes this a more meaningful follow-up test.

Personnel snapshot

• A veteran FBS core: Furman’s Clay Hendrix is in Year 10; Tennessee’s Josh Heupel is in Year 6. Tennessee returns 13 starters—8 on offense and 5 on defense.
• Where points should be available: Tennessee averaged 39.8 points per game last season; Furman allowed 31.0. If those identities survive the roster changes, this is where the favorite should create separation.
• The pressure test: Jake Garcia led Furman’s passing in Week 0 (15 of 28 for 183 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT); Tennessee’s competition remains open, with George MacIntyre the lead candidate (no meaningful 2025 passing sample). The tougher first assignment belongs to Jake Garcia: Tennessee produced 37 sacks last season.

Three quick analysis points

• The opener trend: Josh Heupel is 8-0 in season openers with a 427-96 scoring margin. His five Tennessee openers are 260-58, and every one played at Neyland was won by at least 30.
• The location wrinkle: Neyland Stadium has sold out 28 straight games. Furman’s first trip into this series since World War II comes with more than 100,000 people and no empty-seat relief.
• The quarterback follow-up: Jake Garcia handled 28 pass attempts for Furman in Week 0. He completed 15 of 28 for 183 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT. Tennessee returns 5 defensive starters and ranked No. 13 in FBS sacks per game (2.85), finishing with 37. Week 0 identified who handled the passing game; this matchup is the first chance to see which parts of that performance carry over against a SEC defense.

Prediction

I make final predictions on my TikTok/YouTube/Instagram/Facebook pages @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.