Saturday night, No. 18 Tennessee football defeated Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 45-24. It was just freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s second career game and first on the road. Brandon’s numbers weren’t as much as week one, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He played against a Power Four defense, which is a major step up in competition from the previous week.
What was impressive is Brandon did not put Tennessee in any danger at any point. Through two games now, he has not turned the ball over. He’s taken what he’s got and kept his play smart.
“I just try not to force anything,” Brandon told the media after the win. “Nothing good really happens whenever you start forcing. So just try to let the game come to me, and whenever the players are there, just make the plays and not try to do anything spectacular, just let the game come to me.”
His night against Georgia Tech started off identically to the Furman game. On Tennessee’s first offensive drive, he completed a touchdown pass to tight end Ethan Davis. And what set that up was the Vols’ run game. After a 33-yard run by DeSean Bishop and a Javin Gordon five-yard run, that set up the score. A strong run game is exactly what Brandon needed to make his night easier, especially on the road.
When asked after the game what led to the offense’s big night, he gave credit to the running back room and offensive line.
“I’d definitely say running the ball,” Brandon said. “All the running backs ran the ball very well, and they wouldn’t be able to do it without the o-line. So just up front and the running backs, they had a great game, and we see it in practice all the time, so it’s just very exciting to see it happen in the game.”
Tennessee ran the ball 45 times for 299 yards and three touchdowns. That was the matchup to watch coming in. Colorado had success running on Georgia Tech the week before, and the Vols went out and did the same, averaging 6.6 yards a carry. Daune Morris and Bishop had huge gains. Bishop finished with a career-high 147 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns, and Morris needed just 10 carries to get to 98, two yards short of giving the Vols two backs over 100.
Brandon added to it when he had to. He ran five times for 22 yards, using his legs to keep a few drives alive rather than force something into coverage.
When there is that type of production coming from the backfield, a quarterback is put in a great position to keep the game clean, and that is what Brandon did. His 10-of-21 for 148 yards and two touchdowns won’t get the headlines, but it doesn’t have to.
