Tomorrow, Tennessee football makes its home debut against ETSU inside Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on SECN+/ESPN+. Ahead of the real-life meeting, I fired up the College Football 26 video game to simulate the matchup as best as I could.
With no FCS teams actually in the game, I had to simulate the opening Syracuse game again in ‘dynasty’ mode, and then simulate the Vols’ game against the placeholder ‘FCS Southeast’ team. So while it isn’t actually against ETSU’s roster, it is a simulation for what the game thinks Tennessee would do against a local FCS opponent at home.
Here is the full result of the simulation:
Tennessee – 55
FCSSE – 10
1Q:
(Tenn) Miles Kitselman 24-yd pass from Joey Aguilar, 12:04, 7-0
(Tenn) Braylon Staley 13-yd pass from Joey Aguilar, 8:14, 14-0
2Q:
(Tenn) Max Gilbert, 33-yd FG, 12:30, 17-0
(FCSSE) 50-yd FG, 10:30, 17-3
(Tenn) DeSean Bishop, 1-yd run, 7:55, 24-3
3Q:
(Tenn) DeSean Bishop, 1-yd run, 10:22, 31-3
(Tenn) Star Thomas, 5-yd run, 4:16, 38-3
(Tenn) DeSean Bishop, 1-yd run, 2:10, 45-3
4Q:
(Tenn) Max Gilbert 48-yd FG, 12:59, 48-3
(FCSSE) 1-yd run, 7:55, 48-10
(Tenn) Joey Aguilar, 8-yd run, 4:51, 55-10
Total Offense…
Tennessee – 541
FCSSE – 263
Rushes | Yards | TD…
Tennessee – 46 | 260 | 5
FCSSE – 30 | 56 | 1
Comp | Att | TD…
Tennessee – 22 | 29 | 2
FCSSE – 18 | 44 | 0
Passing Yards…
Tennessee – 281
FCSSE – 207
Passing…
(UT) J. Aguilar – 22-of-29, 281 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks
(FCS) QB1 – 13-of-27, 125 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
(FCS) QB2- 5-of-17, 82 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Rushing…
(UT) S. Thomas – 19 attempts, 158 yards, 1 TD
(UT) D. Bishop – 15 attempts, 58 yards, 3 TD
(UT) J. Aguilar – 9 attempts, 33 yards, 1 TD
(UT) P. Lewis – 3 attempts, 11 yards,
(FCS) QB1 – 9 attempts, 5 yards
(FCS) RB1 – 9 attempts, 13 yards, 1 TD
(FCS) RB2 – 7 attempts, 37 yards
(FCS) QB2 – 2 attempts, -4 yards
(FCS) RB3 – 1 attempt, 1 yard
(FCS) RB4 – 1 attempt, 3 yards
(FCS) WR1 – 1 attempt, 1 yard
Receiving…
(UT) M. Kitselman – 5 receptions, 72 yards, 1 TD
(UT) B. Staley – 5 receptions, 54 yards, 1 TD
(UT) M. Matthews – 4 receptions, 85 yards
(UT) C. Brazzell II – 3 receptions, 18 yards
(UT) A. Jefferson – 2 receptions, 20 yards
(UT) D. Bishop – 2 receptions, 21 yards
(UT) T. Smith Jr. – 1 reception, 11 yards
(FCS) WR1 – 4 receptions, 58 yards
(FCS) WR2 – 3 receptions, 39 yards
(FCS) RB1 – 3 receptions, 7 yards
(FCS) TE1 – 3 receptions, 40 yards
(FCS) WR3 – 2 receptions, 39 yards
(FCS) WR4 – 1 reception, 8 yards
(FCS) WR5 – 1 reception, 13 yards
(FCS) RB2 – 1 reception, 3 yards
Defense…
(UT) C. Hood – 9 tackles, 7 solo
(UT) B. Eason – 4 tackles, 3 solo, 1 TFL, 1 sack
(UT) D. Bailey – 3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
(UT) N. Robinson – 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack
(UT) J. Telander – 7 tackles, 6 solo
(FCS) FS1 – 7 tackles, 5 solo
(FCS) CB1 – 6 tackles, 4 solo
(FCS) SS1 – 6 tackles, 4 solo
(FCS) CB2 – 6 tackles, 3 solo