tennessee auburn footballPhoto via Caleb Jarreau | RTI

Tennessee football is back in the win column. After a tough loss to Texas, the Vols turned the page to a home game against Auburn, in which they survived with a 24-14 win.

It wasn’t without drama, though. Tennessee had to bench freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon for sophomore George MacIntyre just before the half to spark the win.

Here are four takeaways from the game.

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There Was No Other Option But To Bench Faizon Brandon

It was time. After a rough showing against Texas, freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon desperately needed to bounce back against Auburn. However, it couldn’t have gone much worse.

Instead, Brandon took over the Tennessee offense with 5:06 left in the first half and no passing yards to his name. He had completed 3-of-7 passes, but after losing yardage on some, it came out to no movement on the yardage line in the stat book. He also had four rushes for -9 yards.

His eighth attempt was the final straw, though. Brandon had an open receiver, but instead delivered an interception directly into the hands of Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins. This set up the Tigers for a short-field touchdown to take the lead.

At that point, there was no other option. Tennessee had to pull Brandon out of the game and see what the backup George MacIntyre gave them. Even if he also struggled, it couldn’t get much worse.

 

George MacIntyre Snags the Job

It’s tough to imagine Faizon Brandon starting for Tennessee next week at Arkansas. After he struggled and was pulled from the game, George MacIntyre entered and found quick success. His two-minute drill drive ended with time expiring past midfield, but provided an instant spark.

Then, when MacIntyre led the offense out of the half, it looked like a night-and-day difference. Thanks to effective rushing from DeSean Bishop, as well, the offense flew down the field for a touchdown drive. After a turnover, Bishop got loose again for a long score on the first play.

In the blink of an eye, Tennessee went from down 7-3 with no offensive life to up 17-7 and at least some moderate optimism about what MacIntyre was doing at quarterback. He would finish completing 8-of-10 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. This resulted in a rating of 152.2.

With how poorly Brandon played in one-and-a-half SEC games, you have to ride the hotter hand at Arkansas next weekend. MacIntyre didn’t light it up, but he had dramatically more success and deserves the shot to take full, unquestioned command of the job in Fayetteville. Even if the run game did a lot of the heavy lifting while he was in the game, the entire operation went much smoother.

 

DeSean Bishop Gets Back on Track

Part of the offensive struggles against Texas featured a lack of a run game. Neither DeSean Bishop nor Daune Morris could get rolling, and the offensive line couldn’t get much of a push.

Bishop got all the way back on track against Auburn, though. In the third quarter, he escaped for a 25-yard and then a 44-yard touchdown to give Tennessee the lead and then extend it.

By the end of the game, Bishop had totaled 220 yards and three touchdowns on 34 rushes. This was a career-high in rushing yards and touchdowns in a single game.

That’s exactly what Tennessee needed, as well. Paired with Daune Morris’ effort of 32 yards on eight carries, it makes another strong rush attack that defenses have to respect. When it wasn’t rolling at all against Texas, it made moving the ball through the air even more difficult than it already was.

 

The Defense Remains the Real Deal

There seemingly weren’t any growing pains heading into this week. Tennessee’s defense under Jim Knowles passed its not-so-tough tests against Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State with flying colors, then dominated a Texas offense that has some of the most talented players in the country.

Still, there were questions about whether it was a hot start or something Tennessee could truly sustain. The game against Auburn shows there’s no reason to think it’s going anywhere, though.

To start the game, the Tigers couldn’t even remotely move the ball. They went three-and-out on the first four drives of the game, then, when they finally moved the chains, they fumbled it and gave it back to Tennessee. The touchdown before the half was on a drive that started in the red zone, too.

The second half saw Auburn start to find a little more success, but overall, it was still a suffocating effort from Knowles’ defense. This was headlined by a Dejuan Lane interception, which was just part of a great day for him. He finished with nine tackles, two sacks, 2.5 TFLs, a pick and a quarterback hurry.

With the game on the line, the defense came up big again. On third-and-short, the defense stuffed the Tigers. Then, on fourth-and-inches, the Vols blew up a pitch to the perimeter to get the ball back. Tennessee took advantage with a short-field touchdown drive led by DeSean Bishop to ice the game and put UT up by multiple scores with 3:30 to play.

On Auburn’s last-ditch effort to score to keep the game alive in the final moments, Tevis Metcalf intercepted a ball in the red zone after it was tipped by Mariyon Dye. The combination of strong play at all three levels has to get you excited about what that side could accomplish this season.