George MacIntyre will make his first Tennessee football career at Arkansas on Saturday, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Volquest.
Second-year quarterback takes over Fazon Brandonwho started the first five games before MacIntyre replaced him in the second quarter of Tennessee’s 24-14 win over Auburn. Brandon is suffering from a shoulder injury, which is affecting his performance according to the Vols coach. Josh Heupel.
It’s unclear what Brandon’s status will be when the SEC’s first availability report is released Wednesday ahead of the No. 14 Vols’ (4-1, 1-1 SEC) game against Arkansas (2-3, 0-2) on Saturday (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network). But it will be MacIntyre as QB1 for the Vols regardless of Brandon’s availability.
MacIntyre completed 72.4% of his passes for 217 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions during his career. The Brentwood native completed 8 of 10 passes for 86 yards against Auburn.
Brandon won the starting job in a two-way battle with MacIntyre during the preseason. The freshman, who was a five-star recruit, started the first five games but struggled. He completed 60.4% of his passes for 697 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception.
He completed 3 of 8 passes for no yards against Auburn, throwing his first interception in the second quarter and leading MacIntyre to replace him.
The 6-foot-6, 208-pound QB played sparingly in two games this season before replacing Brandon for a series against Texas when the starter was injured on a running play.
Heupel said after the Texas game on September 26 that Brandon would not have returned if he had not been able to throw like he normally can. The Vols coach said after the Auburn win that he didn’t attribute Brandon’s performance to an injury issue.
That changed Monday when Heupel indicated the injury did affect Brandon’s performance.
Whether it was injury or performance related, Brandon’s start in the SEC opened the door for MacIntyre to take the starting spot.
MacIntyre arrived at Tennessee as a highly regarded QB prospect. He was a four-star recruit and the No. 15 QB nationally in Brentwood Academy’s 2025 class, according to Rivals industry rankings. He spent his first season as a third-quarter quarterback and barely played, completing 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards in two games behind. Joey Aguilar And Jake Merklinger.
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