Faizon Brandon’s first college start landed him in Tennessee’s record book. The true freshman accounted for five touchdowns against Furman, tying the program’s freshman record for touchdowns in a single game, according to Vince Ferrara. Casey Clausen set the mark with five against Arkansas in 2000, and Tyler Bray matched it against Memphis in 2010.
Brandon took the field as the only true freshman to start at quarterback this weekend across Power Four teams, and looked calm and locked in. His career-opening drive went 4-of-5 for 43 yards and a passing touchdown to Ethan Davis. He also added 12 yards on one carry.
Brandon said during the Mike Keith Show that he wouldn’t do too much. In this game, that was exactly the case. He does have his legs as a weapon, but he didn’t use them more than needed. He scanned his progressions well and got away if he needed to. Most of his runs were designed.
In Tennessee’s last drive of the first quarter, he took a sack. That was due to Furman’s edge activity on both sides to force the pocket to constrict on him quicker than expected. Brandon then used his legs on an option look on Tennessee’s first drive of the second quarter to put six on the board by scoring from six yards out.
Brandon looked comfortable on the field. He made good decisions and didn’t really make any mistakes. Other than a miscommunication or two with his receiver, he was pretty spotless. Brandon closed out the first half with a strong rushing performance on the Vols’ last drive and ended with a seven-yard rush for six.
Brandon’s first-half stats were 10-of-14 for 96 yards and a touchdown and 10 carries for 68 yards and two touchdowns. He showed great patience, elusiveness and smart physicality on runs between the hash marks.
After half, Brandon got the ball back in his hands and capitalized quickly. After a couple of short plays to set things up, he found Mike Matthews on a 55-yard touchdown pass. We got to see Brandon’s touch as Matthews was wide open up the seam. Then, on the next drive, Brandon struck again. He hit Matthews for a 57-yard score to put Tennessee up 42-0.
Tennessee’s run threat helped a great deal. The Vols spent most of the first half running the ball heavy, and all it took was a quick play fake to keep Furman’s eyes in the backfield. That allowed Brandon to easily go up top. That was Brandon’s last play of the game, as head coach Josh Heupel went to George MacIntyre on the next drive.
Brandon finished the day 13-of-17 for 226 yards and three touchdowns through the air with a rating of 246.4. On the ground, he rushed 10 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns. It was a great first day for the freshman out of Greensboro, N.C.
While the playbook wasn’t fully opened up against Furman, Brandon operated with poise. He took what he got, didn’t do too much and ran when it was designed for the most part. I really like that he was allowed to show his arm and touch on his last two drives. Some may downplay the day a little due to the opponent, but for a freshman to come in and give a close to flawless start to his career, you can’t really overlook that.
Ashlyn Sullivan of SEC Network asked Brandon what he was most proud of after that performance. “Really, just me and my teams success,” Brandon said. “We work so hard in the offseason, just coming out here and seeing it pay off. That’s just the main thing I’m proud of right now.”
When she asked what it means to him of the trust his teammates has in him.
“It means a lot, he said. “All the hard way we put it together, in the offseason just built a lot of trust between me and them, and they just had a lot of trust in me to go out there and just play very hard. So I thought that’s where it all started.”
