Tennessee has a ‘sneaky hard game' early in the 2026 season and the Vols now know which quarterback they'll be facing in that matchup

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The Tennessee Volunteers open the 2026 college football season against Furman before jumping into a difficult schedule that includes a “sneaky hard game” early in the season.

The Tennessee Vols will open the 2026 college football season against Furman in a game that should be a snoozer (no offense to Furman).

Then things get real really quick for the Volunteers.

Tennessee will head to Atlanta in Week 2 for a matchup with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

“Georgia Tech in Week 2 is a sneaky hard game,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs Friday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “Even though Tech’s replacing a lot of things, they’re going to bring a physicality [to that game].”

“I think the Georgia Tech game on the road in Week 2 is a really interesting game because you’re going to take a quarterback into a road environment for the first time,” continued Hubbs. “How does that quarterback play? Tech is playing a Thursday night game the week before, so they’re going to have a couple of extra days to prepare for it. So I think that’s a sneaky early game.”

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key reveals who will most likely start at quarterback for the Yellow Jackets in 2026

One of the positions that Georgia Tech is replacing is their starting quarterback.

Haynes King, who started 36 games for the Yellow Jackets over the last three seasons, is now in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key said this week that Alberto Mendoza, the younger brother of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, will “most likely” be the Yellow Jackets’ starting quarterback this fall.

"It's no secret we're going to have a quarterback start the first game that's never started a college football game, whoever it is," said Key on On3's Andy & Ari podcast. "It most likely will be Alberto. But that's not different than a lot of teams [in] the country."

Mendoza, who turns 20 in June, spent the last two seasons at Indiana. He’s completed 19-of-25 passes in his college career for 292 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

Georgia Tech hosts Colorado in the season-opener on September 3 before facing the Vols on September 12.

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