In what has become a mid-season weekly tradition, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel did not name a starting quarterback for the Volunteers’ upcoming game against Kentucky. Tennessee is in the middle of a bye week, coming off of a painful loss to South Carolina on the road.
George MacIntyre, who played really well throughout the afternoon, made a critical error late on a key fourth and one. Heupel confirmed that the mistake was on MacIntyre after the game.
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“They’re both practicing,” Heupel said on Wednesday, “and practiced well today.”
Faizon Brandon hasn’t been seen since the Auburn game where he was pulled for MacIntyre. Brandon initially won the starting job over MacIntyre during the offseason, but an injury suffered against Texas threw a wrench into things. Clearly not healthy a week later, Heupel made the change under center. That move has stuck since then.
It is at least notable that Heupel refuses to name MacIntyre as the starter going forward.
“Every exposure you have, you learn from, you gain confidence from,” Heupel continued. “There’s some things (MacIntyre) did at a really high level last Saturday. There’s some things that he’s got to be a lot better in and would like to have back, too.”
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MacIntyre had three touchdowns called back due to penalty on Saturday — three plays that would have made his day look much better statistically. For the season, MacIntyre has thrown for 728 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He’s averaging 7.1 yards per attempt.
Brandon hit the ground running to open the season, throwing for 697 yards and seven touchdowns. Brandon added 130 yards rushing and three scores on the ground. Is it possible that the staff could turn back to Brandon with an off week to get him back to full strength? That’s at least being left on the table publicly once again by Heupel.
It would be a mild upset if it wasn’t MacIntyre next weekend against Kentucky, but perhaps the athleticism of Brandon is something the staff wants more of down the stretch.
