Tennessee’s first loss of the season put the offense under a bright light, and that spotlight landed hardest on Faizon Brandon.
The Vols’ defense did enough to keep them in the game, and special teams even added a touchdown. But the offense never found its footing, and that has become the loudest part of the story after the loss to Texas. For a program that usually expects cleaner execution under Josh Heupel, the performance was well short of standard.
That has naturally brought Brandon into the conversation. As the quarterback, he gets the praise when the offense hums and the criticism when it stalls.
Against Texas, he was not close to his best. He made plenty of mistakes, and there is no reason to pretend otherwise.
But there is a difference between saying he struggled and declaring him a lost cause.
That matters even more when you remember who he is: an 18-year-old true freshman making his first SEC start against the best defense Tennessee will face all season. Growing pains come with that territory. There is no reason for panic based on one game.
“Yeah, first of all, he wants to play at a high level. He knows that he can, and he needs to play better than he did Saturday.
But that’s a young guy that, since he’s gotten here, has taken ownership, takes correction, incorporates it into his game, and improves. Certainly, expect that from him this week.
You know, I said at the beginning of the year, too, you got a young quarterback, the 10 other guys around him got to do their job at a high level to alleviate unforeseen circumstances for that guy, too, and that’s part of the ownership that everybody on the offensive side of the ball has to have,” Heupel said.
That’s the heart of this. Brandon’s age is part of the equation, but so is the way Heupel describes him: accountable, ownership-driven, and able to improve.
Those are not throwaway traits for a young quarterback. They’re the kind of habits that help players grow instead of spiral.
And this game was never on Brandon alone.
Heupel made it clear the other 10 players on offense have to help a young quarterback survive a game like that. Tennessee did not get that kind of support. The offensive line struggled badly, both in pass protection and in the run game, and Brandon spent much of the afternoon dealing with pressure and disorder instead of operating from a clean pocket.
Without a reliable run game, Texas could focus more on the pass, which only made life harder for Brandon and the receivers. It was a team-wide problem, not a one-man failure.
Brandon still had his issues. He held the ball too long at times, missed some throws, and looked hesitant.
Those are fair critiques. But there were also a few things in his performance that should keep Tennessee fans from overreacting.
He showed toughness by staying in after suffering a shoulder injury and refusing to come out even while in pain. That kind of response says something. So does the way his deep ball looked when he had a chance to uncork it.
There’s also the question of how different the night might have felt if a few of those defensive pass interference plays had become catches instead. Brandon put several balls in places that drew flags, and if those had counted as completions, his stat line would look better and the conversation around him might be much different. Tennessee likely scores more points in that scenario, and maybe even leaves with the win.
So yes, Brandon has things to clean up. So does the rest of the offense.
That’s true for a freshman quarterback, and it’s true for a team that didn’t play well enough around him. But the traits Tennessee wants are already there: toughness, accountability, and the ability to take a bad game and turn it into something useful.
If Heupel is right, this week’s panic might age poorly.
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NBA insider Brett Siegel even mentioned Knecht as a possible roster cut during training camp, though the Lakers have not issued any official indication that they plan to move on. JJ Redick has praised Knechts work ethic and his push to earn a rotation spot, but for now the bigger question is whether that effort will be enough to steady a future that suddenly looks far less secure. [Read more 🡒]