Will Former Bruin Joey Aguilar Start at Tennessee?

He may have only spent four months in Westwood, but he was still a member of the Bruins, and he's looking to start for his new team.

Sep 19, 2024; Boone, North Carolina, USA; Appalachian State Mountaineers quarterback Joey Aguilar (4) throws a warmup pass before the game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

It was a short run, but it was a run, nonetheless.

Joey Aguilar may have been a UCLA Bruin for about four months, and he may not have seen the field as a Bruin, but he was still a Bruin.

And now, eyes shift toward his current home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

There’s a quarterback conundrum with the Tennessee Volunteers, and no, Aguilar isn’t running away with the starting job.

Even though, when he originally transferred to UCLA, he posted supreme numbers at Appalachian State.

He’s a self-starter, playing football at Diablo Valley Community College near his hometown, eventually parlaying his two years there into a Division I offer at App State.

While with the Mountaineers, he posted incredible numbers, especially for a team that went 14-11 in the two years he was there.

He threw for over 6,700 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions, all while completing 60% of his passes.

He was obviously the most intriguing option for UCLA once Ethan Garbers graduated, and the Bruins were planning on rolling out Aguilar as their guy.

But once Nico Iamaleava entered the portal, UCLA and Tennessee essentially traded quarterbacks.

Now in Knoxville, Aguilar is in a three-way battle for the top quarterback spot, and there’s no telling who’s leading the charge.

Aguilar is the veteran in that quarterback room, with redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and freshman George MacIntyre — with MacIntyre being a highly sought-after recruit.

Coach Josh Heupel addressed the media during SEC Media Day and left the door open for all three quarterbacks to run away with the job.

“I think it’s important (on not naming a starting quarterback). We talk about it at the beginning of every year. You earn everything in this game, and you certainly do inside of our team room… That’s certainly true at the quarterback position. I think it’s important, through my career as a player, as a coach, different spots that I’ve been, I think it’s really important that everybody on your team sees that guy earn that job as well.”

At the end of the day, it’s probably going to be Aguilar who starts the season, but the competition will forever live on.

Aguilar has the seniority. He’s proven he can perform at a high level against D-I competition, and Heupel has stated that Merklinger and MacIntyre are still developing, learning the system and schemes.

This will likely be Aguilar’s team, and one has to imagine that UCLA fans are going to be keeping a side-by-side game log of Aguilar and Iamaleava.

Just to see who got the better end of this “deal.”

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