The Tennessee Volunteers continue their preparations for their biggest game of the season against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. Naturally, one of the biggest questions for either team this week is who is going to start under center for the Vols. Faizon Brandon has been working to get right physically after suffering a shoulder injury against Texas, which per Josh Heupel, was limiting him in Tennessee’s win over Auburn.
George MacIntyre finished out the Auburn game and
started last week against Arkansas. He threw for 247 yards in Tennessee’s 24-17 win over the Razorbacks. Heupel said on Monday that it was known last Monday that MacIntyre would start against the Hogs.
But what about this week? What can we read from the tea leaves? Not much. That said, ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel provided an update on Tuesday afternoon, noting Brandon’s practice work has increased this week, per his sources.
“As for Tennessee at quarterback, there’s some ambiguity here going forward this week,” reported ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “George MacIntyre, his first career start at Arkansas last week. Obviously had his ups and downs. I’ve been told by sources that Faizon Brandon has experienced an uptick in practice reps this week.
“No decision is imminent on who will start in this game, but Faizon Brandon’s availability, coming off that shoulder injury against Texas, appears to give him a better shot at getting some snaps in this game. We may end up seeing both quarterbacks for now, but there’s no clarity yet on who will be the starter.”
We’ll see how things go on the initial availability report released on Wednesday night, as Brandon was on the report last week. Either way, Tennessee’s defense and rushing attack will likely have to carry the day, with whoever starts making some plays when necessary. That’s been generally the formula to win the last two weeks, and it likely will need to be again on Saturday to prevail.
