American college football season
The 2018 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Volunteers played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt .[2] They finished the season 5–7, 2–6 in SEC play to finish in last place in the Eastern Division.
Preseason
2018 recruiting class
US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits
Name
Hometown
High school / college
Height
Weight
Commit date
Trevon Flowers S
Tucker, GA
Tucker
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Feb 7, 2018
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 76
J.J. Peterson OLB
Moultrie, GA
Colquitt County
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
Jan 6, 2018
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 86
John Mincey DT
Homerville, GA
Clinch County
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
250 lb (110 kg)
Jan 19, 2018
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 77
Cedric Tillman WR
Las Vegas, NV
Bishop Gorman
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Feb 7, 2018
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : N/A ESPN grade: NR
Dominick Wood-Anderson TE
San Diego, CA
Arizona Western (JC)
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
255 lb (116 kg)
Dec 20, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 81
Jeremy Banks RB
Cordova, TN
Cordova
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Dec 20, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 78
Jordan Allen DE
Fairfield, CA
City College SF (JC)
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
230 lb (100 kg)
Dec 20, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 82
J. T. Shrout QB
Newhall, CA
Hart
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
Dec 20, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 79
Jerome Carvin OL
Cordova, TN
Cordova
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
305 lb (138 kg)
Dec 20, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 79
Kingston Harris DT
Bradenton, FL
IMG Academy
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
260 lb (120 kg)
Dec 18, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 76
Alontae Taylor ATH, WR
Manchester, TN
Coffee County Central
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Dec 22, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 86
Paxton Brooks K
West Columbia, SC
Airport
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Aug 17, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 77
Tanner Antonutti OL
Nashville, TN
Ensworth
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
260 lb (120 kg)
Jul 30, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 76
Greg Emerson DE
Jackson, TN
Northside
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
280 lb (130 kg)
Jul 3, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 81
Jacob Warren TE
Knoxville, TN
Farragut
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
May 24, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 77
Brant Lawless DT
Nashville, TN
Nashville Christian
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
300 lb (140 kg)
May 1, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 83
Ollie Lane OL
Corryton, TN
Gibbs
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
270 lb (120 kg)
Apr 12, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 77
Matthew Flint LB
Gurley, AL
Madison County
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Aug 2, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 78
Jahmir Johnson OT
Philadelphia, PA
Arizona Western (JC)
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
290 lb (130 kg)
Dec 27, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 79
D'Andre Litaker DT
Murfreesboro, TN
Riverdale
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
285 lb (129 kg)
Jun 13, 2017
Recruiting star ratings : Scout : N/A Rivals : 247Sports : ESPN : ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout : 22 Rivals : 20 247Sports : 20 ESPN : 25
Note : In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.
Sources:
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released
SEC media poll
The SEC media poll was released on July 20, 2018, with the Volunteers predicted to finish in sixth place in the East Division.
Media poll (East)
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Georgia
1,977 (271)
2
South Carolina
1,535 (8)
3
Florida
1,441 (2)
4
Missouri
1,057
5
Kentucky
874 (1)
6
Tennessee
704 (1)
7
Vanderbilt
392
Preseason All-SEC teams
The Volunteers had one player selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.
Schedule
Tennessee announced its 2018 football schedule on September 19, 2017. The 2018 schedule consisted of 7 home games,[7] 4 away, and 1 neutral site game in the regular season. The Volunteers hosted SEC foes Florida , Alabama , Kentucky , and Missouri , and traveled to
Georgia , Auburn , South Carolina , and Vanderbilt .[8]
The Volunteers hosted three of its four non–conference games which were against ETSU from the Southern Conference , UTEP and Charlotte , both of whom competed in the Conference USA . They traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina , for the Belk Kickoff against West Virginia from the Big 12 Conference .
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance September 1 3:30 p.m. vs. No. 17 West Virginia * CBS L 14–4066,793
September 8 4:00 p.m. East Tennessee State * SECN W 59–396,464
September 15 12:00 p.m. UTEP * Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN SECN W 24–087,074
September 22 7:00 p.m. Florida Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry ) ESPN L 21–47100,027
September 29 3:30 p.m. at No. 2 Georgia CBS L 12–3892,246
October 13 12:00 p.m. at No. 21 Auburn SECN W 30–2484,589
October 20 3:30 p.m. No. 1 Alabama CBS L 21–5897,087
October 27 7:30 p.m. at South Carolina SECN L 24–2780,614
November 3 4:00 p.m. Charlotte * Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN SECN W 14–386,753
November 10 3:30 p.m. No. 12 Kentucky Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry ) SECN W 24–795,258
November 17 3:30 p.m. Missouri Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN CBS L 17–5088,224
November 24 4:00 p.m. at Vanderbilt SECN L 13–3835,887
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
Schedule Source: [9]