Tennessee Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar is off to a 2-0 start as the starter on Rocky Top after leading UT to wins against Syracuse and East Tennessee State in the first two games of the season.

Aguilar passed for a combined 535 yards and five touchdowns in those two wins. He didn’t play in the second half of Tennessee’s 72-17 win against ETSU.

The former Appalachian State and UCLA quarterback will face the toughest test of his career on Saturday when the Georgia Bulldogs visit Neyland Stadium for a huge early-season showdown.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly gives Tennessee Vols QB Joey Aguilar some major respect

ESPN’s Bill Connelly offered his take on the quarterbacks in the SEC after the first two weeks of the season, and he currently has a couple of preseason media darlings ranked behind Aguilar.

Connelly, who described his rankings as, “If you had to win a vital game this coming Saturday, which SEC quarterback would you choose to do it?” — has Aguilar ranked No. 5 among SEC quarterbacks.

That’s one spot above LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and two spots above Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning.

“The App State/UCLA transfer has now topped 7,000 career passing yards, and he’s been on cruise control early into his Vols tenure: 66% completion rate, 13.7 yards per completion, no picks and two easy wins,” wrote Connelly of Aguilar’s start to the season.

Nussmeier and Manning were the SEC quarterbacks generating the most offseason hype. And while both of those quarterbacks have played fine so far this season, Aguilar is off to a better start. Now, that doesn’t mean much, in my opinion, when it comes to the future NFL careers of Nussmeier, Manning, and Aguilar (much of their stories are yet to be written). But for now, Aguilar is playing better than Nussmeier and Manning.

Kudos to Connelly for not rolling with groupthink and ranking Nussmeier and Manning above Aguilar by default. Maybe things change later in the season. But for now, Aguilar deserves that respect.

We’ll see if Aguilar can hang on to that ranking after Tennessee’s matchup against Georgia. If he does, it might be time to start talking about a Heisman campaign for the Vols’ starting quarterback.

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Zach Ragan