Tennessee
No. 8 Tennessee rolls to blowout win over Vanderbilt
All five starters scored in double figures Saturday night as No. 8 Tennessee never trailed in an 88-53 Southeastern Conference rout of Vanderbilt in Knoxville, Tenn.
Dalton Knecht and Zakai Zeigler each scored 14 points for the Volunteers (19-6, 9-3 SEC), while Josiah-Jordan James added 13 and Santiago Vescovi netted 12 points. Jonas Aidoo chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Tennessee was coming off a 92-63 win at Arkansas on Wednesday night and replicated that form in this one, never trailing and hurting the Commodores from long range. The Volunteers connected on 14 of 31 3-point attempts and shot 47.8 percent from the floor.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 10 points for Vanderbilt (7-18, 2-10), which upset Texas A&M on Tuesday night but couldn’t replicate that result against a much tougher foe. The Commodores’ top two scorers, Ezra Manjon and Tyrin Lawrence, were held to six and eight points, respectively, and combined to hit only 6 of 16 shots from the floor.
Vanderbilt made just 18 of 54 attempts from the floor, including 7 of 25 from 3-point range. The Commodores also coughed up 19 turnovers, 13 of which occurred in the first half, when the game was decided.
The Volunteers wasted no time gaining significant separation from a team that led them at halftime last month in Nashville, Tenn., before losing 75-62.
Tennessee rattled off 10 straight points to take a 13-3 lead less than four minutes in, getting 3-pointers from James and Vescovi.
The Volunteers went on an 11-0 run to increase their lead to 26-7 after reserve forward Tobe Awaka converted a three-point play at the 10:57 mark. Aidoo made consecutive layups and assisted on Zeigler’s 3-pointer to boost the margin to 33-8 with 6:39 on the clock.
The half ended with Vescovi knocking down a 3-pointer off a Zeigler assist, giving Tennessee a 51-20 lead at the break. The margin ballooned to 41 points in the second half.
—Field Level Media
Tracking the opt outs for both Tennessee and Illinois before the Music City Bowl on December 30 (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville:
Tennessee
Linebacker Arion Carter: Carter over the last seasons had 96 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 31 career games. He had a team-high 76 tackles this season, with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games. He missed two games and was limited against Oklahoma in November while dealing with turf toe injuries. Carter had 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season and 17 tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss in eight games as a freshman in 2023.
Wide Receiver Chris Brazzell II: He a breakout senior season in his second year with the Vols, catching 62 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 19 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, after transferring from Tulane. In 15 games at Tulane he caught 45 passes for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Brazzell is ranked No. 7 at wide receiver on Mel Kiper Jr.’s NFL Draft Big Board. He’s ranked No. 34 overall on ESPN’s list of the best available prospects in the draft.
Cornerback Jermod McCoy: Did not play this season after tearing his ACL during offseason training in January. He was a star last season with 44 tackles, nine passes defended and four interceptions. He had 31 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a freshman at Oregon State before transferring to Tennessee.
Illinois
Offensive Tackle J.C. Davis: Bret Bielema said the Illinois starting left tackle is opting out of the Music City Bowl. He was an All-Big Ten First Team pick by the league coaches this season and the No. 3 left tackle this season according to Pro Football Focus grades. He had made 49 straight starts before opting out of the bowl game.
EDGE Gabe Jacas: The Illinois outside linebacker declared for the NFL Draft on Friday night. He led the Big Ten this season with 11.0 sacks. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 43 total tackles in 12 games this season. He finishes second in Illinois program history for career sacks, with 27.0, trailing only Simeon Rice. Jacas had 74 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season, after combining for 8.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at Illinois.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Tennessee employers laid off more than 8,500 workers in 2025 compared to 7,320 last year, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
This is about a 19% increase in layoffs, with WARN notices impacting 8,691 Tennesseans to date. As of 2023, 5,168 Tennessee workers were laid off through WARN notices.
Counties in Middle Tennessee impacted include:
- Davidson
- Sumner
- Maury
- Rutherford
- Williamson
- Wilson
- Coffee
- DeKalb
- Bedford
- Lawrence
- Putnam
The largest layoff this year was in Maury County. Come January, 710 employees will be laid off from GM Ultium Cells’ Spring Hill facility. Research Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville Michael Kofoed tells FOX 17 News that the facility is is likely impacted by the rise on steel tariffs ruled out by the Trump administration. He adds steel tariffs raise input costs for employers which directly impacts employees’ salary or employment.
The second largest layoff impacted 658 workers at Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC in Rutherford County with 615 workers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center permanently laid off. WARN notices are reports a company is required to file with the state to give workers time to find future employment.
Kofoed states that Tennessee is seeing a troubling trend, with layoffs skyrocketing since 2023.
“That is a very big and concerning number,” Kofoed said.
According to CNBC, more than 1.1 million U.S. employees were laid off this year, the highest 11-month total since 2020.
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