Right after the 24-14 win for Tennessee against Auburn in Week 5, you had a feeling the celebrations were going to be short-lived for head man Josh Heupel. Yes, we can all tip our cap to DeSean Bishop for his historic day, but all eyes are now on Tennessee's starting quarterback spot.
As most of you know by now, Faizon Brandon was benched late in the first half, with George MacIntyre stepping in. Right at the start of his postgame press conference, Heupel was, of course, asked about who his QB1 will be moving forward. While Heupel tried to keep his QB update vague, he left the door open for this to be an open competition once again.
"Yeah, we'll go watch the tape," Heupel just said. "Faizon ultimately didn't play his best football. The turnover on the sideline and some of the things with his progressions... but I've said it a bunch to you guys, we're going to need them all throughout the course of the year. I alluded to that earlier with guys who had to step up, and we'll get back in the building on Monday and continue to grow. There's a lot of growth left for us on the offensive side of the football."
Read it like a book @XavierAtkins8 📚
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 3, 2026
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Josh Heupel has an incredibly tough starting quarterback decision to make moving forward
No one can blame Heupel for taking Brandon out of the game against Auburn, as you could tell he was a bit off both physically and mentally.
At halftime, Heupel said that Brandon also wasn't 100 percent, clearly still trying to work his way back from the shoulder injury he suffered against Texas in Week 4. Him getting sacked 10 times only made his body feel worse, no doubt.
However, if he was healthy enough to play, the showing against the Tigers was inexcusable. Going 3-of-8 passing for zero yards and an interception left Heupel with no choice but to send his 5-star freshman to the bench in favor of MacIntyre. G-Mac ended up completing 8-of-10 passes for 86 yards, doing more than enough to help the Vols record the 24-14 win.
"There won't be just one factor ultimately," Heupel said when asked on what will determine who starts the next game for the Vols. "I said it a minute ago, but we'll need them both through this stretch in the conference."
Heupel added that he told both his quarterbacks to enjoy this win, but based off his comments, the real work will start for them on Monday to decide who will lead the offense out onto the field against the Razorbacks on the road. Even if Brandon does get the start, his leash won't be super long, as Heupel showcased to everyone in the win over Auburn that he won't hesitate to bring in MacIntyre if the true freshman isn't stepping up.
Obviously, how practices go next week is going to dictate quite a lot. Having two quality quarterbacks ready to rock is a good problem to have for Heupel and his staff; it's just not one many of us envisioned after five starts for Brandon.
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