Tennessee’s football season opener is awaited with great anticipation no matter how infirm its opponent might be. But imagine how heightened the anticipation would if the Vols were opening against a nationally ranked team instead of FCS opponent Furman.
The last time the Vols made their season debut against a top 25 team was in 2018. They played No. 17 West Virginia in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tennessee learned a valuable lesson from that mismatch: If you must open the season against a nationally ranked team, don’t do so with Jeremy Pruitt as your coach.
No matter who your coach might be, there are advantages to kicking off the season against feeble opposition. That’s especially true this season since the Vols still haven’t announced their starting
quarterback.
Suspense isn’t mounting as fans await coach Josh Heupel’s decision. My quarterback discussions often begin with someone asking, “So, I guess Brandon will be the starter, right?”
That makes sense. Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre had a year’s headstart on Brandon but didn’t distance himself from the newcomer in the spring. Brandon also fares better in the eye test. He looks stronger and sturdier. MacIntyre is taller but much thinner. So much thinner.
Even if Heupel surprised us by choosing MacIntyre as his first-game starter, fans might not be dissuaded from their belief in Brandon.
In 2021, Heupel thought Joe Milton was his No. 1 quarterback. He was wrong and quickly corrected his error by starting Hendon Hooker in Week 3. Hooker then became one of the SEC’s most productive quarterbacks over the next two seasons.
Deciding on a starting quarterback for the opener wasn’t crucial in 2021 when Tennessee opened against outmanned Bowling Green. Furman should offer less resistance.
The Paladins will offer Tennessee’s quarterbacks more of everything − more time to read the defense, more separation between their receivers and defensive backs, and more room to run.
The disparity in competition will be so pronounced that a quarterback’s shortcomings could go unnoticed. The same weaknesses could be exposed against Georgia Tech.
However, it’s not out of the question that the Vols could beat Georgia Tech with pedestrian quarterback play. The Yellow Jackets also will be introducing a new quarterback. Alberto Mendoza, the brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, was named the starter in the spring after transferring from Indiana.
You know Georgia Tech will be a tough opponent. Toughness is what coach Brent Key’s teams are all about. But it won’t be as talented as the best SEC teams on Tennessee’s schedule.
Although this schedule might be the most challenging of the Heupel era at UT, it’s not disadvantageous for breaking in a new quarterback. The Vols won’t play a nationally ranked team until Texas comes to Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26.
Tennessee will have played Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State before it takes on Texas. By then, there should be no speculation about who is UT’s best quarterback.
Instead, the question will be: “Is Tennessee’s quarterback good enough to make the Vols competitive against one of the best teams in the country?”
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: If freshman QB Faizon Brandon starts, the early schedule could be a plus | Adams
