Tennessee football is entering a critical portion of its offseason. With spring camp in the books, the Vols’ trio of quarterbacks, George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon and Ryan Staub, are retreating for the summer to digest what they’ve learned before attacking fall camp in a push for the starting job.
While it’s still an open competition, we got our first looks at each option over the course of the spring. As a result, college football insider Chris Low spoke on the battle during the RTI Low-Down with Bob Baskerville.
While some are skeptical of Heupel handing the keys to his offense to a true freshman, Low ensured that Brandon has a real chance at winning the job. He even pointed to a previous situation where Heupel did exactly that.
“I spent time with Josh before spring ever started, and he assured me this was going to be a legit competition,” Low said. “Not that he was worried about it, but he felt like he had two guys who could play their way into being the starter legitimately. Based on what I’ve heard and talked to, I think Brandon, I don’t want to say he’s the odds-on favorite, but I think he comes out of spring as a guy that if he can continue to hold it together this summer and continue to rally the guys in that locker room and plays well in the preseason…
“Everybody says, oh, this coach or that coach or Heupel, they’re not going to start a freshman quarterback. Listen, I remind you, Josh Heupel started Dillon Gabriel the entire year as a freshman.”
Dan Marino vs @CLowFB might not be a real quarterback competition… but Tennessee Football sure looks to have a legitimate one on its hands this offseason.
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Low was referring to Dillon Gabriel’s 2019 season at UCF under Heupel. That year, Gabriel started in 12 games and appeared in 13. He totalled 3,653 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for four scores. UCF went 10-3 on the year with a win in the Gasparilla Bowl and finished as the No. 24 team in the country.
There’s a key difference between Gabriel and Brandon, as well. Gabriel entered college as just a three-star recruit. On the other hand, Brandon is a five-star prospect and considered the No. 2 quarterback in the class via 247.
There are also more tools for Brandon to access in learning the offense and adjusting to the college level. He’s discussed the advantage of having iPads to study from and said picking things up hasn’t been too difficult so far.
