By Camden Gober
ATLANTA – All offseason, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has preached that the young players on his football team do not have time to be young. Half of the 2025 Tennessee football roster consists of freshmen.
Heupel knew that he would need these young guys this season, and on Saturday, those freshmen showed up big in Tennessee’s 45-26 win over Syracuse in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Young guys that didn’t have time to be young,” Heupel said. “Certainly, in this one when you’re playing a really good opponent. I thought it was a big testament to them. Nobody had any hesitation playing those guys.”
True freshman Ty Redmond, Jeadon Harmon, Daune Morris, Ethan Utley, Isaiah Campbell, Mariyon Dye, Jordan Burns, and many others saw the field on Saturday afternoon.
“You look at the guys on special teams, offense, defense that got their first action, maybe as a true freshman or first time starting,” Heupel said. “I thought they handled themselves extremely well throughout the course of the football game, made adjustments throughout, as well.”
Morris was one of those young guys on special teams, but not just to be a special teams player; he was a freshman they trusted to return punts in his first collegiate game.
A couple of freshmen got praise from senior defensive lineman Joshua Josephs, but one in particular caught his eye.
“To me personally, I really feel like Ty Redmond popped out. We’ve been seeing this since spring,” Josephs said. “He came in and he was just, like, at a different maturity level than a normal freshman. He’s always been, like, a box type of guy. Seeing it in-game, I love to see. Also, (Jaedon) Harmon came in. He came in, he popped off. The dude that popped off for me was definitely Ty Redmond, 100%.”
Cornerback and Atlanta native Redmond stepped up big in the absence of Jermod McCoy. Redmond finished the day with four tackles, three solo, one assist, and two pass breakups in his first collegiate game.
Coaches have been raving about Redmond all fall camp, and Saturday, he was given the opportunity to play right away.
At the linebacker position, Harmon played a lot of snaps, as well. Also an Atlanta native, Harmon finished today with four tackles, two assists, two solo, and one pass breakup. The Tennessee defense had its back against the wall late in the fourth quarter, trying to prevent Syracuse from scoring a late touchdown.
On fourth and goal from the 2-yard line, who else but a true freshman in Harmon to get into the backfield and deflect the pass, sealing the game for the Vols.
Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley were among the group of young guys who are not freshmen, but this was their first time stepping into this starting role. Matthews finished the day with two catches for 29 yards, while Staley finished with a game-high 95 yards receiving on four catches and one touchdown.
Joey Aguilar connected with Staley on a 73-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter to blow the game open, and the Vols never looked back.
“I mean, we called the play to either me or Mike (Matthews),” Aguilar said about the deep touchdown. “I felt like I had the right read on it. Ran the post route, I was open. Touchdown.”
No. 24 Tennessee will need its young talent to continue developing as the season progresses. Vols improved to 1-0 on the season, and 5-0 in season openers under Heupel.
The Vols will be back in action next Saturday for their home opener against ETSU at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on SEC Network.