Tennessee football fans enjoyed watching freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon run the ball with ease in his debut, but they’re concerned about the risk of injury.
Brandon rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns to supplement his three TD passes in the 18th-ranked Vols’ 56-9 win over Furman (1-1) on Sept. 5.
His legs could be an effective weapon in UT’s offense, but they expose him to hits from defenders. That’s why fans who want to see Brandon play a full season are worried.
That was the most popular topic among questions submitted in the Vols mailbag.
Tennessee (1-0) plays Georgia Tech (0-1) on Sept. 12 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. But before moving forward, let’s dive into the mailbag from the Week 1 win.
Did Faizon Brandon run the ball too much?
I don’t think so.
Brandon is a five-star talent because of his passing and rushing. If he’s not running the ball, UT is wasting a significant part of his skillset.
Sure, that exposes him to more hits. But it’s a risk worth taking.
It’s reasonable to think that Brandon ran the ball too much against Furman, an inferior opponent. But UT called only four designed runs for him.
The rest were scrambles where Brandon didn’t find an open receiver, and he made a quick decision to run. His decisiveness is an asset in those situations rather than a problem.
Will Faizon Brandon scramble that much in SEC games?
That will depend on how opponents adjust to Brandon’s running ability and how he reacts. Make no mistake that Georgia Tech will try to hem in Brandon on passing plays, perhaps with a spy defender to mirror his movements.
If that works, Brandon must counter by hanging in the pocket and going deeper into his passing progressions. There will be moves and countermoves through much of the season as Brandon tries to prove himself as an effective dual-threat rusher and passer.
But if opposing defenses allow Brandon to scramble for big chunks of yardage, he’ll gladly take that. He at least protected himself by running out of bounds on scrambles when he could against Furman.
Why did Tennessee throw short passes early in the game?
It looked like coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle wanted to ease Brandon into the passing game. They started with run-pass options, where Brandon could read a single defender and either hand the ball to a running back or throw a short pass.
Brandon did that well, which yielded shorts completions and moved the chains.
Then Brandon graduated to straightforward play-action passes, where the receiver routes deepened. He connected with Mike Matthews on a 55-yard TD and 57-yard TD, both off play-action fakes.
The level of opponent allowed UT the luxury of easing Brandon into things in his first game. The early plan will be more diverse to start future games.
What’s the update on Sam Pendleton’s injury?
Heupel said the decision was made during warm-ups that starting center Sam Pendleton would be unavailable to play. He did not specify the nature of his injury.
However, Heupel said he expects Pendleton to be ready to play against Georgia Tech.
In his place, Nic Moore started at center and played 62 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, which led offensive players.
Are you concerned about the offensive line?
As much as you can be concerned after one game, yes. It was concerning.
The offensive line struggled to open holes and push Furman off the line of scrimmage early in the game. UT running backs rushed for 265 yards, but 154 yards were after contact. More than 58% of their yardage came after colliding with a defender, often near the line of scrimmage.
I thought UT would be able to run the ball well against Georgia Tech, which gave up 183 yards rushing in a 14-13 loss to Colorado. I’m not as sure of that anymore.
But judging a unit by a season opener is unreliable. UT has experience on the offensive line, so a turnaround is plausible.
Did anyone play well on the offensive line?
Pro Football Focus gave good grades to Moore, the replacement center. Left tackle David Sanders also graded reasonably well, although he had a penalty and appeared to give up a sack.
Most of the starters and key backups had adequate grades. Tackle Ory Williams, an LSU transfer, did not grade well and committed a false start penalty amid his 48 snaps.
UT tried multiple combinations on the offensive line, so it’ll be interesting to see what is carried forward to the Georgia Tech game.
Did Tennessee or Georgia Tech get edge from first game?
UT played an inferior opponent and won easily on Sept. 5. Georgia Tech played a comparable opponent, Colorado, and lost on Sept. 3.
If this was late in the season, I’d say that Georgia Tech perhaps got an advantage with two extra days of rest and preparation. But that’s not much of a factor this early in the season.
Both teams are relatively healthy. And UT undoubtedly prepared for Georgia Tech in subtle ways during preseason, even if the players didn’t realize it.
Did tight ends produce besides Ethan Davis’ touchdown?
Tight ends combined to play 104 snaps in UT’s 74 offensive plays. Obviously, that indicates that the Vols often relied on formations with two tight ends. They were heavily involved in run blocking and sometimes in pass protection.
But tight ends were only targeted three times in the passing game. Ethan Davis caught a 17-yard TD pass, and he played only 12 snaps. South Alabama transfer Trent Thomas caught two passes for 13 yards.
Thomas had a strong debut. He blocked well and played 27 snaps, drawing praise from Heupel. Thomas appears to be the best option as a blocking tight end who can also catch passes in the red zone.
It was disappointing that DaSaahn Brame didn’t flash more against Furman. He played 33 snaps, the most of any tight end. But he wasn’t targeted in the passing game after having a strong preseason as a receiving threat.
How did edge rusher Jordan Norman perform?
Jordan Norman, a Tulane transfer, played well, but he didn’t play much. He only got 14 snaps while sharing playing time with several edge rushers and defensive ends. Norman made a tackle-for-loss.
Norman was overshadowed by defensive ends Tyree Weathersby and Mariyon Dye. Weathersby had a sack, pass breakup and quarterback hurry. Dye had a sack and quarterback hurry.
How did safeties play in Jim Knowles’ defensive scheme?
At least eight players got snaps at safety. The three primary safeties were Penn State transfer DeJuan Lane (34 snaps), sophomore Dylan Lewis (31 snaps) and Michigan transfer TJ Metcalf (28 snaps).
They missed a couple of tackles but covered well in the passing game. Receivers were barely targeted downfield against that primary rotation of safeties. Furman had only one drive beyond 20 yards in the first half, so the scheme was effective.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football fans worry that quarterback Faizon Brandon runs too much
