6 Tennessee football takeaways from loss to rival Vanderbilt

Tennessee football suffered its first loss to Vanderbilt since 2018, falling 45-24 to its rival amid a frustrated Neyland Stadium crowd on Nov. 29.

The 12th-ranked Commodores (10-2, 6-2 SEC) gained 582 yards of total offense, the most allowed by the 18th-ranked Vols (8-4, 4-4) this season. Quarterback Diego Pavia, a Heisman Trophy candidate, overcame two early interceptions to amass 433 yards, including 165 rushing and 268 passing.

The Vols had won six straight over the Commodores, all by double-digit margins. This was coach Josh Heupel’s first loss in the series.

The fact that it’s the first 10-win team in Vanderbilt history didn’t soften the blow for UT. Beginning late in the first half, the Commodores scored 17 unanswered points and never let up.

This marked UT’s sixth consecutive loss to ranked opponents. And it lost three home games in a season for the first time since 2021.

Tennessee now awaits its bowl bid, which will be announced on Dec. 7. Here are six takeaways from this loss to Vanderbilt.

Tennessee didn’t hold down Diego Pavia for long

UT’s defense picked off two Pavia passes, tied for the most thrown by the Vanderbilt quarterback in a game in his career. Edrees Farooq made an interception near the goal line, and Ty Redmond snagged a pick on a deep sideline route.

It was a good start for the Vols against a familiar opponent. Last season, UT held Pavia to 104 yards passing, his lowest output against an FBS opponent in 2024.

But in the second half, Pavia completed timely passes and gashed the Vols for long runs. He finished 18-of-28 passing for 268 yards, one TD and two interceptions. And he rushed for 165 yards and one TD.

Josh Heupel has lost six straight to Top 25 teams

Tennessee suffered its sixth straight loss to a ranked opponent, dating back to 2024. Heupel is now 11-14 against Top 25 foes in his UT tenure, which began in 2021.

Heupel’s losses to Top 25 teams include: Florida (2021), Ole Miss (2021), Alabama (2021, 2023, 2025), Georgia (2021-25), Missouri (2023), Ohio State (2024), Oklahoma (2025) and Vanderbilt (2025).

Joey Aguilar climbed Tennessee passing yards list

UT quarterback Joey Aguilar was 29-of-44 passing for 299 yards and one TD.

Aguilar moved into fourth place on UT’s single-season list for passing yards, surpassing Peyton Manning’s second-best season (3,287 yards in 1996). Manning holds the UT single-season record with 3,819 yards in 1997.

Aguilar extended two notable streaks. He threw a TD pass for a 23rd consecutive game. And he has passed for at least 200 yards in all 36 starts of his Division I career, including 12 at UT and 24 at Appalachian State. Both are the longest active streaks in FBS.

Vols suffered third home loss for first time since 2021

Tennessee suffered a third home loss in a season for the first time since going 5-3 in Heupel’s debut season in 2021. The Vols lost at Neyland Stadium to Georgia, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.

Heupel is now 29-7 at Neyland Stadium during his tenure with a 27th consecutive sellout.

UT had a 14-game home winning streak that was bookended by losses to Georgia in 2021 and 2023. It was the program’s longest home winning streak since winning 23 straight from 1996-2000. Then it won nine straight home games from late 2023 to 2025 until losing to Georgia again, and two more losses followed.

Chris Brazzell joined 1,000-yard receiving club

Chris Brazzell became the 10th player in UT history to post a 1,000-yard receiving season, and he cracked the top 10 for TD catches in a season.

Robert Meachem leads the 1,000-yard club with 1,298 yards in 2006. During Heupel’s tenure, Jalin Hyatt (1,267 yards in 2022) and Cedric Tillman (1,081 yards in 2021) reached the milestone.

Brazzell finished with 91 yards on six catches against Vanderbilt. His 52-yard TD reception on a deep slant was his ninth TD catch of the season, tied for 10th on the UT list. Hyatt holds that record with 15 TD catches in 2022.

DeSean Bishop on verge of rushing milestone

DeSean Bishop, a former Karns High standout, rushed for 97 yards and a career-high two TDs on 20 carries. But he was mostly bottled up in the second half.

Bishop is 17 yards shy of becoming the 21st UT player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the third straight under Heupel. He should get that chance in UT's bowl game.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Vanderbilt analysis: Key takeaways from loss to rival