Tennessee’s quarterback decision remains open heading into its second road game of the season.
After George MacIntyre replaced Faizon Brandon in Saturday’s 24-14 win over Auburn, head coach Josh Heupel declined Monday to name a starter for the Vols’ trip to Arkansas.
“We’ll find out as the week goes here,” Heupel said. “George came in and did some really good things.”
Heupel also provided new context for Brandon’s struggles against Auburn. He revealed the freshman is dealing with an injury that ultimately affected his play.
Brandon finished 3-of-8 passing for zero yards with an interception before MacIntyre replaced him late in the second quarter.
Heupel said Brandon was limited during the early portion of the practice week. While Brandon remained engaged and took mental reps, Heupel acknowledged the value of physically working through those repetitions during the week.
The freshman also handled the in-game change well.
“I think Faizon, he handled it well,” Heupel said. “He was a good teammate during the course of a football game.”
Heupel said Brandon understood he wasn’t playing his best, in part because of what he was dealing with physically.
“Those guys have been great together in the room,” Heupel said of Brandon and MacIntyre. “They’ve been really good inside of the room and on the practice field and on game day together.”
MacIntyre gives Tennessee another option
MacIntyre made the most of his opportunity.
The sophomore entered with Tennessee backed up at its own 2-yard line late in the first half and helped produce the Vols’ best drive to that point.
He finished 8-of-10 for 86 yards and started 6-of-6 for 80 yards. His 42-yard completion to Mike Matthews early in the third quarter helped set up Tennessee’s first touchdown.
MacIntyre’s performance gave Heupel another option as Tennessee tries to generate more from a passing attack that has struggled the past two weeks.
“To be at our best, we got to get that part of it going at a higher level than we have,” Heupel said.
Heupel also pushed back on placing Tennessee’s recent offensive issues entirely on Brandon.
“It’s all 11, first and foremost,” Heupel said when asked what the freshman needs to do differently.
Now Tennessee will use the week to determine who gets the next opportunity.
Heupel isn’t publicly committing to Brandon or MacIntyre yet. When FDP’s Paige Dauer tried to get one more answer on how he would evaluate the decision, Heupel shut down the quarterback questions.
“Okay, next question. I’m done with the quarterbacks,” Heupel said.
However, the quarterback question will remain the biggest one until Heupel provides an answer.
