Tennessee middle linebacker Keenan Pili is out for the season with a knee injury, head coach Josh Heupel announced Monday.

Pili, a seventh-year senior, suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of Saturday’s 23-17 overtime win over Florida. The former BYU transfer is tied for the Volunteers’ team lead this season with 29 tackles, along with 1.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries.

This is the third season-ending injury for Pili, who was a three-year starter at BYU before transferring to Tennessee prior to the 2023 season. He missed all but three games with a torn ACL in 2021 and suffered a torn triceps in last year’s season-opener vs. Virginia.

Due to missing nearly two full seasons due to injury, Pili received a special waiver from the NCAA to return for a seventh year of college football. Heupel had high praise for the Las Vegas native following Saturday’s game.

“I’m not sure there’s a better representative of what a Volunteer is than Keenan Pili,” Heupel said. “You talk about a selfless guy that cares about the people around him way more than he cares about himself, that’s an elite competitor, great leader, tough as nails, athletic, explosive — everything that you want. Just … he’s a dude, man. Special dude.”

No. 11 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1) hosts No. 7 Alabama (5-1, 2-1) in the annual “Third Saturday in October” clash at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. That game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.