2021 Tennessee Volunteers football team

2021 Tennessee Volunteers football
2021 Tennessee Volunteers football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Record	5–5 (3–4 SEC)
Head coach	Josh Heupel (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Alex Golesh (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Tim Banks (1st season)
Base defense	4–3 multiple
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 1 Georgia x#^	8	–	0	14	–	1
No. 18 Kentucky	0*	–	3	0*	–	3
Tennessee	4	–	4	7	–	6
Missouri	3	–	5	6	–	7
South Carolina	3	–	5	7	–	6
Florida	2	–	6	6	–	7
Vanderbilt	0	–	8	2	–	10
West Division
No. 2 Alabama x$^	7	–	1	13	–	2
No. 11 Ole Miss	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 21 Arkansas	4	–	4	9	–	4
Mississippi State	4	–	4	7	–	6
Texas A&M	4	–	4	8	–	4
Auburn	3	–	5	6	–	7
LSU	3	–	5	6	–	7
Championship: Alabama 41, Georgia 24
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2021 Tennessee Volunteers football team represents the University of Tennessee in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Volunteers play their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, and compete in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They are led by first-year coach Josh Heupel.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	8:00 p.m.	Bowling Green*	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	SECN	W 38–6	84,314
September 11	Noon	Pittsburgh*	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN	L 34–41	82,203
September 18	Noon	Tennessee Tech*	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN+/SECN+	W 56–0	80,053
September 25	7:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 14–38	88,478
October 2	Noon	at Missouri	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	W 62–24	45,655
October 9	Noon	South Carolina	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN2	W 45–20	89,437
October 16	7:30 p.m.	No. 13 Ole Miss	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	SECN	L 26–31	102,455
October 23	7:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (Third Saturday in October)	ESPN	L 24–52	100,077
November 6	7:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Kentucky	Kroger Field Lexington, KY (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 45–42	61,690
November 13	3:30 p.m.	No. 1 Georgia	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	L 17–41	100,074
November 20	7:30 p.m.	South Alabama*	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPNU
November 27	3:45 p.m.	Vanderbilt	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	SECN
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP and CFP Rankings after November 2 All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

Game summaries

Bowling Green

Bowling Green at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Bowling Green	0	6	0	0	6
Tennessee	14	0	14	10	38

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: September 2
Game time: 8:00 p.m.
Game weather: Sunny, 77 °F (25 °C)
Game attendance: 84,314
Referee: Steve Marlowe
TV announcers (SECN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color) and Cole Cubelic (sidelines)

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	0	27	7	7	41
Tennessee	10	10	7	7	34

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: September 11
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Sunny, 71 °F (22 °C)
Game attendance: 82,203
Referee: Stuart Mullins
TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (color) and Tom Luginbill (sidelines)

Tennessee Tech

Tennessee Tech at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee Tech	0	0	0	0	0
Tennessee	14	14	21	7	56

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: September 18
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Sunny, 75 °F (24 °C)
Game attendance: 80,053
Referee: Kyle Olson
TV announcers (SECN+/ESPN+): Kevin Brown (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (color) and Abby Labar (sidelines)

at No. 11 Florida

Tennessee at No. 11 Florida

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	7	7	0	0	14
No. 11 Florida	10	7	14	7	38

at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL

Date: September 25
Game time: 7:00 p.m.
Game weather: Cloudy, 80 °F (27 °C)
Game attendance: 88,478
Referee: Matt Loeffler
TV announcers (ESPN): Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (color), and Katie George (sidelines)

at Missouri

Tennessee at Missouri

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	28	17	10	7	62
Missouri	3	7	7	7	24

at Faurot Field, Columbia, MO

Date: October 2
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Rain, 72 °F (22 °C)
Game attendance: 45,655
Referee: David Smith
TV announcers (SECN): Dave Neal (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (color), and Andraya Carter (sidelines)

South Carolina

South Carolina at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
South Carolina	0	7	7	6	20
Tennessee	28	10	0	7	45

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 9
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C)
Game attendance: 89,437
Referee: James Carter
TV announcers (ESPN2): Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Mike Golic Jr. (color), and Taylor McGregor (sidelines)

No. 13 Ole Miss

No. 13 Ole Miss at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Ole Miss	10	14	7	0	31
Tennessee	9	3	7	7	26

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 16
Game time: 7:30 pm
Game weather: Sunny, 59 °F (15 °C)
Game attendance: 102,455
Referee: Marc Curles
TV announcers (SECN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color) and Cole Cubelic (sidelines)

The game was delayed for nearly 20 minutes in the 4th quarter as some Tennessee fans started to throw objects onto the field, including a golf ball that hit Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin in the leg. The eruption occurred after officials ruled that Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren was short on 4th-and-24 with just under a minute left to play.^[2] On the Monday following the game, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced that Tennessee would be fined $250,000 due to the fans' actions.^[3]

at No. 4 Alabama

Tennessee at No. 4 Alabama

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	14	0	3	7	24
No. 4 Alabama	7	14	3	28	52

at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL

Date: October 23
Game time: 7:00 pm
Game weather: Sunny, 72 °F (22 °C)
Game attendance: 100,077
Referee: Alex Moore
TV announcers (ESPN): Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (color), and Katie George (sidelines)

at No. 18 Kentucky

Tennessee at No. 16 Kentucky

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	14	10	14	7	45
No. 18 Kentucky	7	14	14	7	42

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

Date: November 6
Game time: 7:00 pm
Game weather: Sunny, 46 °F (8 °C)
Game attendance: 61,690
Referee: Steve Marlowe
TV announcers (ESPN2): Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (color), and Dawn Davenport (sidelines)

No. 1 Georgia

No. 1 Georgia at Tennessee

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Georgia	7	17	3	14	41
Tennessee	10	0	0	7	17

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 16
Game time: 3:30 pm
Game weather: Sunny, 49 °F (9 °C)
Game attendance: 100,074
Referee: James Carter
TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color) and Jamie Erdahl (sidelines)

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars					0
Volunteers					0

Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Commodores					0
Volunteers					0

Coaching Staff

Name	Position^[4]	Joined Staff
Josh Heupel	Head Coach	2021
Tim Banks	Defensive Coordinator	2021
Kodi Burns	Wide Receivers	2021
Mike Ekeler	Outside Linebackers / Special Teams Coordinator	2021
Glen Elarbee	Offensive Line	2021
Rodney Garner	Defensive Line	2021
Alex Golesh	Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends	2021
Joey Halzle	Quarterbacks	2021
Brian Jean-Mary	Linebackers	2021
Jerry Mack	Running Backs	2021
Willie Martinez	Secondary	2021

References

^ "2021 Tennessee Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
^ Wilson, Mike (October 17, 2021). "How Tennessee Vols fans trashed end of Ole Miss game vs. Lane Kiffin". Knox News. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
^ Low, Chris (October 18, 2021). "SEC Fines Tennessee Volunteers $250k for fan behavior at end of loss to Ole Miss Rebels". ESPN. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
^ "Football Coaches". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 2021-06-07.

This college football 2020s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "2021 Tennessee Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

[2] Wilson, Mike (October 17, 2021). "How Tennessee Vols fans trashed end of Ole Miss game vs. Lane Kiffin". Knox News. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

[3] Low, Chris (October 18, 2021). "SEC Fines Tennessee Volunteers $250k for fan behavior at end of loss to Ole Miss Rebels". ESPN. Retrieved October 23, 2021.

[4] "Football Coaches". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 2021-06-07.

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