KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – If you thought Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel would come into the week by naming a starting quarterback for Saturday, you were terribly mistaken.
On Monday, Heupel was asked about the quarterback situation in a series of questions. One thing remains clear: he’s in no rush to tell the media whether a decision has been made.
“We’ll find out as the week goes here,” Heupel said. “George came in and did some really good things. Faizon obviously wasn’t at his best dealing with getting injured in the Texas game. It was affecting his game. And we’ll go through the week here. You’ll find out Saturday.”
George MacIntyre replaced Faizon Brandon against Auburn and completed 8 of 10 passes for 86 yards. That included a 42-yard reception by Mike Matthews, who caught the ball across the middle and got upfield.
One part of Heupel’s statement that caught my attention was his admission that Brandon wasn’t at his best because of the injury. Brandon’s shoulder was banged up in the Texas game the week before, when he was sacked 10 times.
That’s sort of a change from what Heupel said Saturday night after the Auburn game. At that time, he wouldn’t place blame on the injury in regards to Brandon’s early struggles. Brandon was pulled in the second quarter after completing 3 of 8 passes for zero yards.
“I don’t know that I would say that, ultimately,” Heupel said Saturday. “We’ll watch a little bit of the tape and see more of it, but we’ll go from there.”
Heupel also spoke about Brandon being limited early in practice the week of the Auburn game. He said Brandon gained “mental reps” and stayed engaged.
“Yeah, being limited in the early part of the week, certainly, those reps, those opportunities allow you to progress during the course of the week,” he said. “I thought he did a really good job staying engaged, getting mental reps. We were making him take drops in the early part of the week, right behind the pocket. Ultimately, just everybody together, we weren’t playing our best football early. He’s a competitor, he’s extremely tough, he’s resilient, he’s a winner. And he’ll continue to bounce back from what he was doing.”
After a Sunday of watching the film, Heupel seemed more comfortable pointing to the injury as a factor.
What we do know is that Tennessee faces a huge decision for Saturday’s game at Arkansas. Heupel has shown no interest in tipping his hand, and with good reason. Keeping the Razorbacks guessing could be an advantage, especially with two quarterbacks who bring different looks to the offense.
Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield said Monday his staff is still trying to get a read on both quarterbacks.
“Yeah, I think we’re still getting a sample size of both, right? They’re both young. And so to sit there and peg, hey, this guy’s a pocket passer. This guy’s more of a runner. That’s not fair. I still think we’re trying to figure it out,” Silverfield said. “Both quarterbacks are very, very talented. That’s all I know. … But we expect to see both. But we got to prepare and act accordingly.”
If I had to guess, MacIntyre gets the start after his showing against Auburn, but I could see both quarterbacks playing in Fayetteville as well. A lot of it depends on how healthy Brandon is. Either way, Heupel has made one thing clear: we’ll find out Saturday.
No. 15 Tennessee and Arkansas kick off Saturday, Oct. 10, at 4:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. CT at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The game will be televised on SEC Network with Matt Schumacker on play-by-play and Aaron Murray as analyst. Taylor Davis will report from the sideline.
