Joey Aguilar’s move to Tennessee has paid off, as he guided the Volunteers to a 45-26 win over Syracuse on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Aguilar initially transferred to UCLA during the winter window but later headed to Knoxville after Nico Iamaleava had joined the Bruins’ roster.During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, the first-year Tennessee quarterback reflected on his transition to the Vols."Everybody welcomed me pretty fairly when I got here," Aguilar said. "It was like when I got here, it was quick. I gravitated towards Miles Kitselman pretty quick. You know, he was a big part of my transition, making it easier. He came in, took me in pretty quick, built a connection like that."It felt like I'd been here for a while, especially with the players and coaches just being so welcoming when I got here. It just felt like it was right and felt like I've been in for a while, and I knew this team for a while."On Saturday, Aguilar looked comfortable running Tennessee’s offense, but the road to Knoxville wasn’t simple.The former three-star prospect in the 2019 class battled through a pandemic-disrupted stint in JUCO before landing at Appalachian State, then UCLA and now Tennessee."When football came back around, I came back into it," Aguilar said (via On3). "Just to see how my life shifted in just a short time. Just people saying, like, ‘Come play. One more time. Give it one more shot.’ So, it’s kind of crazy to see.”CFB analyst praises Joey Aguilar’s breakout performanceIn Saturday’s game, Joey Aguilar completed 16 of 28 passes for 247 yards, three touchdowns with no interceptions, while also adding 34 yards on the ground for a total of 281 yards of offense. One of the game’s highlights came when he connected with Braylon Staley on a 73-yard strike.Fox Sports analyst Aaron Torres spoke highly of Joey Aguilar on his Aaron Torres Podcast."I think Tennessee upgraded a quarterback and a couple things, one as far as the Deshaun Foster quote is concerned," Torres said. "I'm not even a Tennessee fan, I'm not an Aguilar (fan)."On top of that to question his work ethic. Whatever the question is, connection with receivers. Well, guess what, the connection seemed pretty good to me on Saturday. All of a sudden the ceiling on Tennessee feels a lot different. Thanks to Joey."CBS Sports gave Joey Aguilar an A grade in its review of quarterbacks making their first starts with new programs. On Tuesday, the Manning Award also named him one of its Stars of the Week, placing him among just eight FBS quarterbacks to earn the honor for Week 1.