No. 15 Tennessee football and the Arkansas Razorbacks will kick off Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. CT at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Tennessee will look to move to 5-1 on the season. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network. Matt Schumacker will have the play-by-play with Aaron Murray as the analyst. Taylor Davis will report from the sideline.
On the injury front, Tennessee has listed two players on the SEC availability report the previous two nights as questionable. Running back Javin Gordon, who hasn’t played since Georgia Tech, remains questionable heading into Saturday.
Freshman defensive lineman Kedric Golston II also remains out for the second consecutive week.
Quarterback Faizon Brandon has been listed as questionable the previous two nights as well. Brandon has dealt with a lingering shoulder injury suffered in the loss to No. 1 Texas on Sept. 26. He exited last week’s game against Auburn in the second quarter. After throwing an interception deep on the Vols’ end of the field, he finished the day 3 of 8 for no yards. That is when George MacIntyre stepped in.
“Any time as a coach, you know exactly what you’re getting, who you’re getting, skill sets that you’re facing,” head coach Josh Heupel told Mike Keith Thursday on not naming a starter. “It’s at all positions, but certainly at that position too. It allows you the luxury of being able to scheme throughout the course of the week in preparation. There’s going to be differences in how you call the game, differences in what you’re practicing to face an opponent. So find out Saturday.”
While Heupel has been hesitant to officially name the starting quarterback, it was widely reported Tuesday that MacIntyre will start Saturday. MacIntyre completed 8 of 10 passes for 86 yards in the 24-14 win over Auburn last week. It will be interesting to see how he fares with the start in Fayetteville, and if the Vols can get a solid passing game going.
Below is Friday night’s full availability report.
TENNESSEE
OUT
TE #0 Ethan Davis
WR #9 Joakim Dodson
LB #12 Jaedon Harmon
DB #15 Edrees Farooq
DB #24 Dylan Lewis
DL #37 Kedric Golston II
OL #75 Wendell Moe Jr.
QUESTIONABLE
RB #6 Javin Gordon
QB #11 Faizon Brandon
ARKANSAS
OUT
TE #47 Maddox Lassiter
QUESTIONABLE
DL #35 Steven Soles Jr.
