The Faizon Brandon era of Tennessee football begins at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when the No. 20 Volunteers welcome Furman to Neyland Stadium.
Brandon, the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Vols since Brent Schaeffer in 2004, was tabbed the starter by head coach Josh Heupel nearly two weeks ago over sophomore George MacIntyre. Fans have not watched the quarterbacks compete since the Orange & White Game in April, but a sellout crowd of 101,915 inside Neyland Stadium will have the opportunity to witness what coaches and players have been discussing throughout preseason practices.
“Faizon has done a good job,” junior offensive lineman Jesse Perry said in a news conference earlier this week. “He came out here and earned that job. He’s been good in getting the play call to us and pushing tempo, and he’s been good on the checks.
“We’ve just got to block for him, because he can go and make the throws.”
Brandon, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder from Greensboro, North Carolina, will become Tennessee’s fifth different opening day starting quarterback in the last five years, following Hendon Hooker (2022), Joe Milton III (2023), Nico Iamaleava (2024) and Joey Aguilar (2025). Aguilar was obtained from the transfer portal and wound up leading the Southeastern Conference in passing yards per game last season, but there have been no comparisons in recent weeks between Brandon and his immediate predecessor.