Tennessee’s secondary has taken another blow, and this one looks like it will last the rest of the year.
Sophomore defensive back Dylan Lewis is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season after suffering a foot injury against Kennesaw State, according to VolQuest. Lewis was listed as out in the SEC availability reports ahead of Tennessee’s game against Texas, and multiple reports said the injury happened during the Vols’ 42-9 win over Kennesaw State on Sept.
- He was later spotted in a walking boot.
That season-ending label marked a shift from what had been publicly known before the Texas matchup. Lewis had already been ruled out against the Longhorns, but earlier reports had separated his situation from the five Tennessee players already known to be done for the season.
The injury arrives at a point when Lewis was starting to carve out a bigger role in Tennessee’s defensive backfield.
Tennessee Athletics said Lewis played in all three of the Vols’ games before getting hurt. He logged 33 defensive snaps and made a tackle against Furman, then posted a career-best three tackles in Tennessee’s 45-24 road win over Georgia Tech. Against Kennesaw State, he added two assisted tackles before leaving with the injury.
Lewis, a 6-foot, 198-pound sophomore from Atlanta, appeared in five games as a true freshman in 2025 and mostly worked on special teams. He came to Tennessee as a consensus three-star prospect out of Milton High School in Georgia and enrolled early in January 2025.
His absence matters even more because Tennessee was already thin at safety.
Edrees Farooq suffered a season-ending injury during preseason camp, opening the door for players like Lewis to take on larger roles. Farooq started all 13 games in 2025 and finished with 76 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 4 forced fumbles.
Before the Texas game, Tennessee secondary coach Anthony Poindexter told Yahoo Sports that the Vols were shifting pieces around as they tried to build depth in the secondary.
Now Lewis being unavailable for the rest of the season only makes that job tougher.
Tennessee’s next chance to regroup comes against Auburn, which visits Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3. The Vols will be trying to bounce back from their first loss of the season while adjusting again in a secondary that has already been hit hard by injuries early in 2026.
In Other News...
Tennessee Texas Finish Just Got An Official Officiating Twist
The Southeastern Conference added an officiating wrinkle to Tennessees loss to Texas, saying the Volunteers drop-kick onside attempt was handled incorrectly. The league said the kick should have drawn a five-yard penalty and a replay of the down because it was taken from behind the required 35-yard line, a violation of free-kick rules.
Even so, the correction does not change the result of Texas 20-17 win over Tennessee. For the Volunteers, it leaves one more frustrating detail attached to a game already decided by a narrow margin, even if the official ruling stops short of altering the final scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Fans Are Stuck On One Faizon Brandon Debate
Tennessees loss to Texas left plenty of fingerprints on the offense, but the loudest postgame debate has centered on Faizon Brandon and how much of the struggle was really on the quarterback. Brandon finished 17 of 29 for 145 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, yet the bigger number was the sacks, with Tennessees protection breaking down often enough to make the whole night feel hurried and uneven.
Film analyst Brooks Austin pushed back on the idea that Brandon alone was responsible, pointing to a shaky run game and the lines problems up front as part of the picture. Josh Heupel sounded similarly measured, saying Brandon may have been sped up and stressing that the answer has to come from more than one player. For Tennessee, the uncomfortable part is that the debate is still open, and the film may only deepen it. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Weighs In On Tennessees Late Onside Kick Controversy
The late-game onside kick that briefly gave Tennessee a jolt against Texas has now drawn a formal ruling from the Southeastern Conference, adding another layer to an already messy finish. Tennessee punter Jackson Ross used a drop-kicked onside attempt that was initially allowed on the field, and the Vols recovered the ball as the play stood in real time.
The SEC later said the kick should have been judged illegal because of rule violations, and that officials should have enforced a five-yard penalty and replayed the down. The conference also said it will make sure free-kick rules are properly officiated going forward, a familiar refrain after a sequence that left Tennessee with no shortage of reason to wonder how the ending should have unfolded. [Read more 🡒]