{"id":6009,"date":"2025-07-13T06:02:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T06:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6009\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T06:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T06:02:04","slug":"phil-steele-doubts-josh-heupel-can-end-20-years-of-tennessee-misery-in-secs-toughest-road-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6009\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Steele Doubts Josh Heupel Can End 20 Years of Tennessee Misery in SEC\u2019s Toughest Road Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">There\u2019s one game on Tennessee\u2019s 2025 schedule that you might want to circle. And it\u2019s not the SEC gauntlet against Georgia (September 14). Entering his fifth year as the Vols HC, Josh Heupel has been great. Since 2021, he\u2019s stacked a 37-15 record, held his own against Alabama and Florida (2-2 each), and nearly reset expectations for the entire program. The Vols have shown they can win in tough spots, and they\u2019ve got the roster to make a push to the top ten for a second straight year. But there\u2019s a doubt if they can change history in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">If you ask Phil Steele, 2025 might not be the year Josh Heupel breaks a 20-plus-year streak curse. It\u2019s been 21 long years since Tennessee tasted victory at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (2003). Since then, Southern Miss and Vanderbilt have won at the Swamp, but for some reason, the Vols just find themselves the unlucky contenders against Florida in their home venue. In a new episode on <a class=\"es-hyperlink-new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ojzlSZpqq9A?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=website_internal&amp;utm_campaign=web_link_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Tony Basilio Show<\/a> on July 12, he dropped a reality check on Tennessee\u2019s November 22 game in Gainesville. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">\u201cThis one I\u2019m actually siding a little bit with Florida,\u201d Steele said. \u201cI think they played extremely well in the Swamp. They\u2019ve got more coming back than Tennessee does this year.\u201d And it isn\u2019t just to do with the venue or history. \u201cI actually have Florida [as] a six-point favorite in this game. I think\u00a0the Gators may just be a slightly better team at home, especially if DJ Legway is 100% healthy,\u201d Steeler said.<\/p>\n<p data-article=\"true\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"img-tag-node-img-loader-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/imago1054179130.jpg\" fetchpriority=\"high\" style=\"position:absolute;z-index:0;width:100%;height:100%\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"article-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domFigCaptionText__kuHmn\">via Imago<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domFigCaptionText__kuHmn\" hidden=\"\">NCAA, College League, USA Football 2024: UTEP vs Tennessee NOV 16 November 23, 2024: head coach Josh Heupel of the Tennessee Volunteers during the NCAA football game between the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the UTEP Miners at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville TN Tim Gangloff\/CSM\/Sipa USA Credit Image: Tim Gangloff\/Cal Media\/Sipa USA Knoxville Neyland Stadium Tennessee United States NOxUSExINxGERMANY PUBLICATIONxINxALGxARGxAUTxBRNxBRAxCANxCHIxCHNxCOLxECUxEGYxGRExINDxIRIxIRQxISRxJORxKUWxLIBxLBAxMLTxMEXxMARxOMAxPERxQATxKSAxSUIxSYRxTUNxTURxUAExUKxVENxYEMxONLY Copyright: xCalxSportxMediax Editorial use only<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">With DJ Lagway healthy and Billy Napier finally coaching with some juice, Florida could very well be the better team, given their home-field advantage. Even former Gators star Urban Meyer is certain about the outlook. \u201cSomehow, Coach Napier, the staff and the leaders on that team ignored the noise and went out and played their best football at the end of the season. I think there\u2019s something there right now,\u201d he said on Triple Option. And the credit goes to the QB.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Last season, despite limited reps behind Graham Mertz, DJ Lagway flashed starpower winning in all the games he started and racking up 1,915 yards and 12 TDs. He enters this season as one of the most touted SEC QBs in contrast to App State transfer Joey Aguilar who\u2019s replacing the Vols playoff QB Nico Iamaleava. But don\u2019t bury Tennessee just yet. They might have a new QB but he\u2019s a guy who has over 6,700 career yards and 56 TDs. Besides, he\u2019ll be surrounded by talent like Mike Matthews and Chris Brazzell II at wideout, Star Thomas in the backfield, and 5-star David Sanders Jr. anchoring the offensive line. Defensively, they return enough playmakers to be dangerous. So what\u2019s the outlook for the Vols this season?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-article=\"true\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Do Josh Heupel\u2019s Vols have the grit to win in 2025?<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">Tennessee kicks off 2025 with a neutral-site opener vs. Syracuse and a few breathers at Neyland\u2014ETSU, UAB, and New Mexico State. But the real gauntlet starts in mid-September, and thankfully for Rocky Top, the Georgia game is at home this year. Still, the Florida game is the one that\u2019s circled on every whiteboard in Knoxville. No LSU, Texas, Ole Miss, Mizzou, or A&amp;M on the schedule. Just Florida and Alabama on the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">If Josh Heupel\u2019s offense executes its design to run wild, then 10 wins are very much on the table. Per Pro Football Focus, Tennessee\u2019s preseason win projection sits at 8.03. Their odds to make the College Football Playoff is 26%. While their chance to win the SEC is a meager 7.8%. The Vols have just 1.87% projection to win it all. The numbers don\u2019t scream title run, but they do whisper dangerously if it clicks.<\/p>\n<p data-article=\"true\">ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p class=\"dom-traversal_domPTag__RMrin\">But until Josh Heupel erases that 20-year Gainesville ghost, it\u2019s hard for playoff talk in Knoxville. And the first place to start with is to <a class=\"es-hyperlink-new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essentiallysports.com\/ncaa-college-football-news-josh-heupels-tennessee-qb-room-faces-another-twist-as-joey-aguilars-starting-role-comes-into-question\/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=website_internal&amp;utm_campaign=web_link_2\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">address their QB situation<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s one game on Tennessee\u2019s 2025 schedule that you might want to circle. And it\u2019s not the SEC&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1466,6450,1976,399,6026,6451,6452,398,396,397,3,6453,6454,4052,1467,99,2219,6455,24,1435],"class_list":{"0":"post-6009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-1466","9":"tag-aktuelles","10":"tag-college","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-fusball","13":"tag-kollegium","14":"tag-league","15":"tag-ncaa","16":"tag-ncaa-football","17":"tag-ncaafootball","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-ohi","20":"tag-ohio","21":"tag-playoffs","22":"tag-quer","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-tennessee","25":"tag-tennessees","26":"tag-usa","27":"tag-x0x"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}