Obvious question: Where to from here?
Tennessee, 4-1, next plays Arkansas, probably the weakest team in the Southeastern Conference. That does not guarantee a victory. Fayetteville has not been a friendly place for Volunteers.
Life in this league is a Saturday-to-Saturday challenge. All you have to do is find a way to win. How or by how many doesn’t really matter. As the late Al Davis often said, “Just win, baby.”
The Arkansas game will be the end of the first half of the season. The outlook is uncertain. Maybe yes, this could still be a good team. Maybe no, it won’t.
For all practical purposes, the Volunteers are starting over at the most critical position, quarterback. Surely Josh Heupel will give George MacIntyre the opportunity to recreate a passing attack.
That doesn’t mean the Faizon Brandon era is over. He’ll be back.
Heupel had nine months and a few days of October to decide what is Faizon Brandon. We all know he is an athletic 18-year-old with a strong arm, good legs and a tremendous high school background. We know he has the will to win plus courage to compete. We know for sure that he will try to get up when knocked down.
None of us can be sure he is a winning quarterback at the SEC level.
At the appropriate time in August, Heupel picked Faizon as most likely to succeed. He helped beat Georgia Tech. He didn’t have a chance against Texas. He wasn’t ready for the Auburn challenge.
The coach, in self-defense, in mid-stream, switched to MacIntyre. That was a good move. George got the team away from its own goal. He was a stabilizer. Tennessee won the game, not so much because of George, but he certainly didn’t lose it.
Heupel has one more week to ponder, experiment, guess and gamble. It would be best if he figures out, before the third Saturday of this month, which quarterback gives the Vols the best chance to survive the second half of this season.
Heupel, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and assorted specialists have undoubtedly tutored Brandon on reading defenses and throwing ahead of receivers instead of waiting until they might be wide open.
This is the obvious flaw in Faizon’s game. His running ability needs to be balanced by when to run.
All the coaching imaginable, past, present and future, didn’t, hasn’t and won’t make MacIntyre into a running quarterback. He is a pocket passer. His timing, his ability to read the field, his decisions might make him a decisive winner.
That combination worked well enough for Peyton.
There are other questions to be answered. The patched offensive line showed fierce determination against Auburn but DeSean Bishop broke 10 tackles and 140 of his 220 yards came after contact.
Determination won’t be enough from week to week. The line must improve and somehow develop consistency. Coaching is relevant.
There surely is a way for receivers to do more. One threat was lost with the injury to tight end Ethan Davis but the guys out wide must take up the slack.
As good as the defense has been, cheers, there remains plenty of room for improvement. There were 13 missed tackles. Auburn’s switch to up-tempo caused problems. Tiger quarterback Byrum Brown hit the Vols for 266 yards.
You may not have seen it this way but I thought Auburn still had a late chance to win. In the fourth quarter, it went 94 yards in four plays to reduce the deficit to three points. The Tigers did not go away even when the Vols regained a 10-point lead. The defense didn’t stop them until the last-minute interception.
What if Auburn had scored that late touchdown and recovered an on-side kick? Alex McPherson’s field-goal range is supposedly 55 yards. Give that some thought.
Robert Neyland (TN Athletics)
Parting shot: I thought Tennessee’s observance of the 100-years-ago promotion of Robert R. Neyland to head coach was a fitting tribute to history – and a grey jersey yard sale.
Neyland believed in orange and white. I don’t think he would have been impressed with all the do-dads UT glued onto the greys to increase their value as collectors’ items. We are again reminded that money matters.
To Heupel’s credit, he is aware of the General’s rock-solid foundation – the team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins; if the early breaks go against you, put on more steam; emphasize the kicking game; play the full 60 minutes.
We shall see if Heupel solves the quarterback question. Neyland never had that problem.
Marvin West welcomes comments and questions from readers at marvinwest75@gmail.com Read more westwords. Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter.
