l coach Josh Heupel may need thought he might beat s on protection alone.
The primary half proved him proper. The second half proved him flawed after Arkansas reeled off landing drives on its first two possessions of the third quarter.
Nonetheless, e to overhaul the y on Oct. 10 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
It was the scariest of wins for the 14th-ranked Vols towards an Arkansas program that entered the sport on a 13-game SEC dropping streak.
The comeback was commendable. However it gained’t imbue the Tennessee fan base with confidence heading into UT’s Oct. 17 recreation towards Alabama.
How might the Vols minimize it so shut towards the worst staff within the SEC?
Quick reply: Inexperienced quarterbacks.
True freshman Faizon Brandon had a nightmarish first half in his final begin. He accomplished three of eight passes for no yards towards n on Oct. 3.
Sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre got here off the bench to save lots of the day, main the Vols to a 24-14 victory over the Tigers. Mix MacIntyre’s stable play with Brandon’s shoulder harm, and that was sufficient to earn MacIntyre his first begin.
His play towards the Razorbacks won’t earn him one other begin. He misplaced a fumble and threw two interceptions, however his recreation wasn’t a complete washout.
He led two fourth-quarter scoring drives because the Vols rallied for the victory. MacIntyre was 18 of 29 passing for 247 yards and a landing, however the turnovers loomed giant in a close to loss to a 14-point underdog.
So, who will begin towards Alabama: MacIntyre or Brandon? Don’t count on a fast reply from Heupel, who’s gradual to announce his quarterback preferences.
The reply might depend upon Brandon’s well being. He was listed as questionable for the Arkansas recreation.
Primarily based on what we’ve seen to date, the Vols can be hard-pressed to beat Alabama regardless of who begins at quarterback.
Tennessee protection ought to have dominated
UT’s high-level protection was anticipated to dominate towards Arkansas, which ranks 115th nationally in whole offense. And Tennessee’s superiority in that matchup was evident instantly.
The Vols restricted Arkansas to 95 yards and and not using a rating within the first half. Little question, that additional boosted an already-confident Tennessee protection.
“We don’t want any factors from the offense to win the sport,” UT security Dejuan Lane stated after a profession recreation towards Auburn wherein he had 9 tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception. “We’re going to win on protection.”
However the Vols wanted greater than protection to resist Arkansas’ second-half surge.
DeSean Bishop to the rescue
Tennessee working again DeSean Bishop completed what the protection began. His 59-yard run round proper finish arrange the Vols’ clinching rating and capped one other very good efficiency.
Bishop carried 19 instances for 138 yards every week after speeding for 220 yards towards Auburn. That upped his season-rushing whole to 678 yards, which places him on tempo to realize greater than 1,300 yards.
However sustaining that tempo towards Alabama shall be a problem, particularly if the Vols don’t get extra consistency at quarterback.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He could also be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This text initially appeared on Knoxville Information Sentinel: s