There's a lot of anger among the Tennessee fanbase right now. We get it. In the 27-24 loss to South Carolina in Columbia, the Vols shot themselves in the foot way too many times, resulting in the season record falling to 6-2. Quarterback George MacIntyre was far from perfect, with his two fourth-quarter mistakes really getting in the way of win No. 7 coming in.
Enough to send him to the bench to see what 5-star freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon can do? Absolutely not. A quick look on social media shows that plenty of Vols fans are pushing for Josh Heupel to bring back the true freshman to run the offense.
Again, we get it, MacIntyre struggled with the game on the line. However, keeping things in perspective, it's easy to argue that he actually may have played his best game as QB1.
Tennessee did him no favors with 12 penalties, including three that took touchdowns off the board. Erase those stupid errors and MacIntyre's stat line would look way better than it does now, and UT would have also been victorious.
Blaming Tennessee's loss to South Carolina solely on George MacIntyre is beyond lazy
On the day, the second-year quarterback ended up completing 16-of-23 passes for 136 yards. The 45-yard dime to Mike Matthews for a touchdown? Taken off the board because a Vols player wasn't lined up correctly. That alone was back-breaking. Then the hold on the TD to Braylon Staley to potentially ice the game made things worse.
MacIntyre does still deserve some blame, however. The 4th-down gaffe where he blew it and forgot what was called... inexcusable. The fumble with under a minute to go to help set up South Carolina's walk-off field goal? It just can't happen. Still, blaming all of this on MacIntyre is not the way to go, and even Heupel knows that.
"Everybody's gotta take ownership of a lineman assignment, and it starts there," Heupel said after the loss when asked about all of the mental mistakes. "Technique, a holding call out in the perimeter at the end. We knew that this crew called it tight out on the perimeter, too. It's on everybody to take ownership of it."
“I think we all know how different this game would have looked.”
— Emilie Rae Cochrane (@EmCochranetv) October 25, 2026
Three of George MacIntyre’s touchdown passes were called back due to penalties tonight.
MacIntyre called it one of the most frustrating games he’s ever played in. #Vols pic.twitter.com/yPxKk8RTWb
And that taking ownership will begin during the bye week, with a monster clash with rising Kentucky at Neyland Stadium on the way next on Nov. 7. For that matchup, MacIntyre has to be the starter. He has gotten more and more comfortable with each game, jelling with his wideouts as well.
Imagine throwing Brandon back into the fire after he hasn't seen the field since getting benched himself in the close win over Auburn. Brandon wasn't playing with confidence, which is why MacIntyre took over in the first place.
Does everyone think that Brandon is just going to magically turn into an elite quarterback against the Wildcats? Will Stein has his team as a whole flying, with the defense turning heads each week.
Going with Brandon would be a big-time gamble that Tennessee needs to avoid. Let MacIntyre get his mind right during this week off. He'll come back stronger and put the Vols in a better position to upset Kentucky than Brandon would, period.
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