As the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide heads to Knoxville to take on the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers this Saturday, several questions remain about the status of Tennessee's true freshman quarterback, Faizon Brandon.
During Tennessee's SEC opener against then top-ranked Texas on Sept. 26, Brandon suffered a right shoulder injury after taking a hit from Texas linebackers Rasheem Biles and Justin Cryer.
Brandon returned on the next Tennessee drive, finishing 17-for-29 for 145 passing yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions in the 20-17 defeat. However, in the ensuing game against the Auburn Tigers, Brandon went 3-for-8 through the air for no passing yards and one interception in the first half, and he was benched with 3:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Redshirt freshman quarterback George MacIntyre took over and finished 8-for-10 for 86 passing yards. The Volunteers leaned heavily on running back DeSean Bishop's 220 rushing yards to win 24-14 over Auburn.
Two days after the win, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said the decision to bench Brandon was because his injury was affecting his play.
"I think he [Brandon] realized that he wasn't playing his best, but major part because of what he was dealing with physically from the week before," Heupel said.
This past Saturday, MacIntyre played the entire game for Tennessee and finished with a very solid showing. He threw two interceptions to the Arkansas defense during Tennessee's 24-17 game and completed 18 of his 29 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
"As a group, we got to do a better job of taking care of the football," said Heupel on Monday. "We got to play smarter and not make it more difficult on ourselves through pre-snap penalties or whatever it might be."
Heading into the week, Heupel made it clear at his Monday press conference that the Volunteers' starting quarterback is still unclear as they take on the Crimson Tide this Saturday. However, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Brandon has experienced an "uptick" in practice reps this week, increasing the likelihood that Brandon at least plays a few snaps on Saturday.
No matter who starts at quarterback for Tennessee, the Crimson Tide defense must do a better job getting off the field. In the 20-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Alabama allowed the Bulldogs to go 7-for-12 on third down and to get 11 plays of 15 yards or more.
"There were a number of opportunities that we had a chance to get off the field on third down and make a play," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said during Monday's press conference. "We were right there, and we didn't get it done."
The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers kick off at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. Alabama enters as an 8.5-point favorite over Tennessee and seeks its first win in Knoxville since 2020.