It is officially game week for the Tennessee Volunteers. They will kick off on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT against the Furman Paladins at Neyland Stadium. You can find the game on SEC Network+ on the ESPN App.
As announced last week, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel named freshman Faizon Brandon the starting quarterback to begin the season. Brandon earned this opportunity and will face a Paladins squad that already has one game under its belt.
Furman, a member of the Southern Conference, defeated Anderson University (South Atlantic Conference, NCAA Division II) 20-3, outgaining Anderson 451 yards to 160 and holding them to just 30 second-half yards. CJ Nettles led the ground game with 99 yards on 10 carries, while quarterback Jake Garcia threw for 183 yards and rushed for 51.
Not to overlook anyone, but this is a matchup that Tennessee should handle without issue. However, it is the first time the Vols will see someone other than themselves, and early-season mistakes do happen. What I am looking to see is just good work and depth getting the chance to work.
In a one-on-one with Austin Price of Volquest, Heupel spoke on Brandon’s temperament, which is no secret or surprise. A true freshman opening the season under center is going to have moments, but the staff keeps going back to how the young quarterback handles them. “Makes some mistakes, owns it, learns from it,” Heupel said. “A lot of the time he can verbalize the mistake before you even go coach him.”
Against an FCS opponent with a game already on film, that steadiness should let Brandon settle in and play freely.
The other thing worth watching is the depth behind the starters. In this sport there will always be next man up situations, and the safety room already offered a live example of what that looks like. When Edrees Farooq went down, transfers TJ Metcalf and Dejuan Lane continued to make high-level plays for the duration of fall camp.
Heupel praised the group’s grasp of the defense, noting they “have the ability to disguise” and do “a great job playing off of the quarterback’s eyes and shoulders.” Saturday offers the same kind of runway for young players across the roster to show they can be trusted when their number is called.
That is really the value of a game like this. Furman will not simply hand Tennessee anything, but the gap in talent and depth is significant, and the Vols should be able to dictate the game in all three phases.
For Tennessee, the scoreboard is almost secondary. What matters is a clean start from Brandon, evidence that the defense can communicate and rally to the football, enough separation to get backups meaningful reps, and coming out of the opener healthy. As Heupel put it, he wants to see his guys play extremely hard and take care of the football, and from there the rest can be corrected. If that happens Saturday afternoon, the Vols will leave Neyland exactly where they want to be heading into week two.
