Tennessee’s quarterback situation still isn’t getting a straight answer from Josh Heupel, even after George MacIntyre helped steer the Vols to a huge win over Alabama.
With Tennessee headed to South Carolina on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Columbia on ESPN, Heupel spoke with reporters Monday afternoon and was asked whether MacIntyre had locked down the starting job. He wouldn’t go that far, and he also didn’t fully close the door on Faizon Brandon.
“George has played smart and efficient,” Heupel said. “Like a lot of what he’s done. You guys will figure out when we get to game day.”
MacIntyre just delivered the best outing of his college career in Tennessee’s upset of the Tide. In his second career start, he went 21-of-31 for 197 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. That performance made him the first quarterback in the rivalry to win the game as the starter with no passing or rushing touchdowns since Jake Coker in 2015.
After the game, MacIntyre said Tennessee’s approach was all about staying steady and taking what Alabama gave them.
“I thought I did a good job just operating within the offense, getting the ball out,” MacIntyre said after the game. “Bama, we knew they were going to play really soft on the outside.
By soft, I mean, like, deep, not really letting any shots over the top. And, I felt like their game plan was just keep having them snap it again, snap it again, and make us sustain drives.
And I feel like, especially in the second half, that’s what we did. Kind of stopped kicking ourselves in the foot with penalties and small execution things from myself and other people.
And we were able to pull through in the second half.”
MacIntyre also started the week before in Tennessee’s road win at Arkansas, where he completed 18-of-29 passes for 247 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked twice in that game and also lost a fumble.
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The postgame celebration in Knoxville came with a costly catch. After Tennessees win over Alabama, the Southeastern Conference fined the university $500,000 for violating its access to competition area policy, punishing the fan rush onto the field that followed one of the programs biggest victories in recent memory. The leagues policy is designed to keep spectators out of competition areas for safety, and it only allows exceptions when procedures are approved in advance and clearly communicated.
The money will go to Alabama, adding another layer to a rivalry that already had plenty of juice. Tennessee still has a path to have the fine reduced if it can show it tried to prevent the field storming or that there was only minimal interaction during the scene, but for now the SEC has made clear that the celebration crossed a line it wasnt willing to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces A Brutal Truth After Tennessee Exposed This Weakness
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Tennessee's Alabama Celebration Just Reignited A Debate Vols Fans Know Well
The celebration in Knoxville is already carrying a pricey reminder. Tennessee was fined $500,000 by the Southeastern Conference after fans stormed the field following the football game against Alabama, a scene that quickly turned a big win into a league issue. Under SEC policy, spectators are not supposed to enter the field except in specific circumstances, and the penalty is being passed along to Alabama.
There is still a possible path to a smaller bill if Tennessee can show it made efforts to keep fans off the field, but the visuals from Saturday make that a tough case to sell. Video showed a large number of fans spilling onto the turf, which is exactly the kind of moment the conference has tried to discourage as it keeps revisiting how to handle field-storming celebrations. [Read more 🡒]