Overview
- Faizon Brandon accounted for five total touchdowns and completed 13-of-17 passes for 226 yards while rushing 10 times for 68 yards in Tennessee’s 56-9 win over Furman on Saturday.
- Tennessee piled up 638 total yards with a balanced attack that produced 309 passing yards and 329 rushing yards and featured long touchdown connections to Mike Matthews.
- Defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam led a disruptive front with three sacks and five tackles for loss as Jim Knowles’ unit recorded six sacks and showed an early pass-rush identity.
- Coach Josh Heupel called the game a “good start” and urged cleaning up penalties, turnovers and other execution issues even as the staff said it will keep evaluating the quarterback spot in live game reps.
- Brandon’s debut matters for Tennessee’s youth-driven QB plan because he became the youngest QB starter in program history and the first true freshman to open a season for the Vols since 2004, but his performance will be tested next week at Georgia Tech.