Josh Heupel still isn’t showing his hand at quarterback, even with Tennessee coming out of its open date and heading into Saturday’s game against No. 8 Kentucky at Neyland Stadium.
On Monday, the Vols coach declined to say whether the week of practice will determine who starts under center. Heupel has now gone through three straight games without publicly naming a starter ahead of time, and he didn’t change course after Tennessee’s lone open date of the season.
"We'll finish the week here, practice and get to game day," Heupel said during his weekly Monday press conference.
Sophomore George MacIntyre has opened the last three games for Tennessee after taking over late in the first half of the Vols’ 24-14 win Oct. 3 against Auburn. Freshman Faizon Brandon, a former five-star prospect, started Tennessee’s first five games after winning the preseason battle over MacIntyre.
MacIntyre, a former four-star prospect from Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy, steadied Tennessee after the Auburn switch.
He helped the Vols erase a 7-3 deficit against the Tigers, then made his first career start in a 24-17 win at Arkansas the following week. He also started in Tennessee’s 26-10 victory over then-No.
6 Alabama on Oct. 17.
The first loss with MacIntyre as the starter came in Tennessee’s most recent game, a 27-24 defeat to South Carolina on Oct. 24.
In that one, MacIntyre was stopped in the backfield on a botched fourth-and-1 late in the fourth quarter, turning the ball over on downs. He also lost a fumble on a sack with less than two minutes left, and that sequence helped set up Malik Orsan’s game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired.
For the season, MacIntyre has completed 67 percent of his passes for 728 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. He has thrown only one touchdown in his three starts, though Heupel said Wednesday that the quarterback has been operating "at a really high level" in some areas.
"Every exposure you have, you learn from, you gain confidence from," Heupel said at the time. "There's some things he did at a really high level last Saturday. There's some things that he's got to be a lot better in and would like to have back, too."
Even though MacIntyre didn’t throw a touchdown against South Carolina, he had three scoring passes wiped out by penalties. Heupel said those plays still count when Tennessee grades the sophomore’s performance on film.
"Yeah, if you're simply looking at results of plays, that can be extremely misleading - stats that show up on a sheet that don't (show) hazardous reads, throws, whatever it might be, too," Heupel said. "So you're looking at the full body of work."
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Got More CFP Motivation Than Vols Fans Can Ignore
The first College Football Playoff rankings gave Tennessee a spot at No. 13, while Alabama landed at No. 5, a placement that caught plenty of attention after the Vols beat the Crimson Tide on the field. CFP Committee Chair Hunter Yurachek pointed to Alabamas stronger collection of quality wins as the reason behind the early gap, which only adds another layer to a race Tennessee still has time to influence.
For a Vols team still chasing its best path forward, the message is pretty clear: the opening rankings are only a snapshot, not a verdict. Tennessees upcoming games now carry even more weight, because a strong finish could reshape how the committee views the resume and give the Vols a chance to climb when the next set of rankings arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Milton Just Landed The NFL Opportunity Tennessee Fans Waited For
Joe Miltons next chance arrives in a spot Tennessee fans know well: under the bright lights, with a real opportunity to show what made him such a compelling arm talent in Knoxville. The Philadelphia Eagles have named the former Volunteers quarterback their starter for Week 9 against the New York Giants, a move that bumps Tanner McKee aside and gives Milton his first NFL start after being taken in the sixth round of the 2024 draft.
It is the kind of opening that can change a young quarterbacks trajectory, especially with Philadelphia dealing with injuries to key players and Jalen Hurts already out for the season. For Tennessee supporters, it is a familiar kind of wait, finally turning into a chance to see Milton get meaningful NFL reps and a chance to prove he belongs on that stage. [Read more 🡒]
Even A Former Alabama QB Thinks Tennessee Got Jobbed
The latest College Football Playoff rankings have only deepened the frustration around Tennessees spot at No. 13, especially with Alabama sitting at No. 5 despite the Volunteers head-to-head win over the Crimson Tide. The debate has spilled beyond Knoxville, too, with former Alabama quarterback and ESPN broadcaster Greg McElroy among those openly questioning how the committee is weighing Tennessees resume against Alabamas.
What has made the reaction louder is the committees shifting emphasis from week to week, with head-to-head results carrying real weight in some cases and seeming to fade in others. Tennessees supporters have every reason to feel the inconsistency, and the broader issue now is whether the rankings are rewarding the right things or simply creating more confusion as the playoff picture tightens. [Read more 🡒]