EA Sports chose Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and Alabama’s Ryan Williams to be on the cover of College Football ’26. We talk to the athletes about what this moment means to them.
The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the UAB Blazers in Week 4 − just as we predicted using EA Sports College Football 26 − and now we’re back to see how No. 15 Tennessee will fare against the unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs by running 100 simulations of their Sept. 27 game.
The video game, which is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, favored Tennessee over UAB by an average score of 38-16. The Vols won their real game by a wider margin, defeating the Blazers 56-24.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel will be leading his team on the road as they travel to Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, looking to block out the cowbells for a Week 5 win. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Sept. 27.
This week, we ran 100 video game simulations of Tennessee vs. Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium with clear skies and a 3:30 p.m. kickoff to get as close as possible to Saturday’s predicted conditions.
Tennessee vs. UAB: EA Sports College Football 26 results
Don’t celebrate just yet, but things are looking good: The Tennessee Volunteers went 87-13 across 100 simulations against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
And not to put pressure on the kicker, but the foot of video-game Max Gilbert delivered big time for the Vols on multiple occasions − perhaps, poetic redemption after Tennessee’s heartbreaking loss to Georgia following a missed kick.
In back-to-back simulations, Gilbert made six field goals and missed none, with his longest being 51 yards and 50 yards, respectively. Gilbert went 6-6 again and followed it up with one 5-5 game and three 4-4 games.
In three of these games, Tennessee would have lost or been forced into overtime without Gilbert’s contributions (and that’s not including extra points).
- Predicted score: Tennessee 33, Mississippi State 17 (based on average points across 100 simulations)
- Tennessee average yards: 132 rushing, 265 passing, 500 yards total (including special teams)
- Mississippi State average yards: 72 rushing, 211 passing, 407 total (including special teams)
- Turnovers: Tennessee narrowly lost the turnover battle, giving up the ball 124 times compared to 120 turnovers by Mississippi State. Tennessee’s total was skewed by Game 84, which included three fumbles and three interceptions by the Vols.
Tennessee athletics reporter Mike Wilson expects a slightly closer but higher scoring game, predicting a 41-27 Tennessee win: “Tennessee gets its first SEC win and hands Mississippi State its first loss behind a good performance from quarterback Joey Aguilar,” he wrote.
Four simulated games went to overtime, with Tennessee going 1-3 in extra time. Tennessee held Mississippi State to 14 points or fewer in 37 of the games we simulated.
Here are some more highlights from our fifth week of simulations:
- Biggest Tennessee win: 62-0 (a repeat of their biggest win from our UAB simulations)
- Biggest Mississippi State win: 30-3
- Closest game: 25-23, Mississippi State in overtime
- Highest scoring game: 50-43, Tennessee
- Lowest scoring game: 13-3, Tennessee (game tied 3-3 until the fourth quarter)
Tennessee’s record this season: 3-1
EA Sports predictions compared to actual outcomes this season: 4-0
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Ryan Wilusz is the business growth and development editor. Phone 865-317-5138. Email ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com. Instagram @knoxscruff. Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.
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