Tennessee will open its 2024 campaign against Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 31.

In anticipation for the season opener, VolReport is highlighting a former Vols player whose jersey number matches the amount of days until kickoff.

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With 88 days to go, Tennessee wide receiver Tim McGee, who starred in the Vols' offense in the mid-1980s and was one of the headliners on their 1985 SEC Championship team, is selected.

A prep standout at John Hay High School in Cleveland, Ohio, McGee played in four games as a freshman in 1982, but became a bigger contributor during his sophomore season in 1983, appearing in 11 games and catching 19 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.

The following year in 1984, McGee set the program single-season record for receptions with 54 for more than 800 yards and six scores, including a 17-yard touchdown that sparked the Vols' 28-27 comeback win over Alabama.

During Tennessee's conference title and Sugar Bowl run in 1985, McGee totaled 50 receptions and led the SEC in receiving yards with 947 while ranking second in touchdowns with seven.

In the Vols' 35-0 thumping of No. 2 Miami in the Sugar Bowl, McGee had a game-high seven receptions for 94 yards to cap a stellar college career that included two All-SEC and a consensus All-America selections.

McGee accounted for 123 receptions for 2,042 yards and 15 touchdowns in 37 games over four seasons. He turned in six 100-plus yard performances, including 190 yards vs. Vanderbilt in 1984.

McGee was taken in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals and spent eight seasons with the franchise.

He tied for first in the league in kickoff return yards with 1,007 as a rookie and had 36 receptions for 686 yards and six touchdowns during the Bengals' run to the 1988 Super Bowl.

In his most productive season in the pros in 1989, McGee recorded 65 catches for 1,211 yards and eight touchdowns, including an 11-catch, 194-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Detroit Lions that earned him AFC Player of the Week in Week 11.

McGee retired from the NFL in 1994.

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