Tennessee opens as massive favorite over Akron

Tennessee is 2-0, fresh off of surviving a wild fourth quarter against Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon. It was a game filled with mistakes, but the Volunteers got just enough offensively while the defense absolutely took over the game in the second half.

Josh Heupel and his staff have plenty to clean up — special teams, ball security, inconsistent offense — and luckily for them they’ve got Akron coming to town on Saturday. It’s a chance to get some rhythm back and build some more chemistry before Florida next weekend.

Tennessee has already had one cupcake matchup this season, beating Ball State 59-10. The oddsmakers see a similar result coming, and they’ve bumped up the spread to reflect that. The Volunteers were 35 point favorites entering the game against Ball State, and per DraftKings Sportsbook, Tennessee is favored by 47 points on Saturday against Akron.

The Volunteers are 2-0 against the spread so far this season, despite the overtime victory on Saturday.

Tennessee is all the way up to No. 7 in ESPN’s FPI rankings. That particular metric has been a big fan of the Vols since the summertime, perhaps ahead of the curve a bit. FPI has Tennessee with the ninth rated offense and the 17th rated defense through two weeks of play. That number likely improves this week, with another layup game on tap.

Akron is 1-1 on the season, coming off of a 52-0 loss to Michigan State. Their lone win came in overtime against St. Francis. Joe Moorhead has a tough night ahead of him on Saturday in Neyland Stadium.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See DraftKings.com/sportsbook for details.