Tennessee football employed both of its top two quarterbacks in a critical win over Kentucky.
The Vols gave backup Faizon Brandon a handful of snaps and he sparked the offense as the No. 16 Vols beat the No. 7 Wildcats 34-6 at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 7.
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Tennessee gained 57 yards and scored a touchdown on Brandon’s three plays used as a quarterback. Coach Josh Heupel said the Vols were able to employ these new packages as Brandon recovered an injury suffered against Texas on Sept. 26
“Faizon last week and a half, two weeks has gotten back to being close to 100% (healthy). Wanted to utilize his skill set in situational football and apply pressure to defenses in different ways,” Heupel said. “At the end of the day, a lot of really positive things in the run game but there’s a lot of positive things out on the perimeter with wide receivers blocking, too.”
Brandon, a five-star freshman, won Tennessee’s starting quarterback job during preseason practices. But he was benched midway through the Vols win over Auburn on Oct. 3 and limited for multiple weeks due to a right shoulder injury suffered in the 20-17 loss to Texas.
Tennessee first brought out Brandon for a third-and-2 play from inside their own territory in the first quarter. It was his first game action since being benched vs. Auburn. All he needed to do was hand it off to running back DeSean Bishop for a first down.
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He got more involved with a 29-yard run to the outside, again on third and short, at the 13:32 mark of the third quarter.
In five appearances coming into the Kentucky game, Brandon completed 61 of 101 passes for 697 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. He’s also rushed for 130 yards and three scores.
Brandon truly put his mark on the win early in the fourth quarter. He faked a run to the right and reversed the ball with a flip to Mike Matthews, who ran 24 yards untouched into the end zone for Tennessee’s second touchdown of the game. It counted for Brandon’s only pass of the game.
“Certainly Faizon can throw it too. … Trust him in that way,” Heupel said. “It’s a counter play and we blocked it well. Mike did a good job of reading it. Blocked it well out on the perimeter. It’s just an opportunity to use Faizon in a unique way.”
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Matthews said the Vols installed the play he scored on this week.
“Couple plays before that, we brought Faizon in for some runs,” Matthews said. “So I’m sure that got their attention. But we practiced that play all week, repped it out, trusted my teammates and that’s the result.”
MacIntyre completed 9 of 14 passes for 125 yards, no touchdowns or turnovers. Coming into the Kentucky game, MacIntyre was completing 67% of his passes for 728 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Still, the Vols had only managed to score one touchdown on a 66-yard run from Duane Morris before Brandon’s pass to Matthews.
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Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Tennessee football used backup QB Faizon Brandon for spark vs Kentucky
