7 Tennessee football takeaways from win over Auburn with QB George MacIntyre

No. 17 Tennessee football made a quarterback change in time to beat Auburn 24-14 on Oct. 3 at Neyland Stadium.

Freshman starting quarterback Faizon Brandon was ineffective behind an injury-plagued offensive line, so coach Josh Heupel replaced him with George MacIntyre just before halftime.

The offense recalibrated. MacIntyre passed for 86 yards. And DeSean Bishop rushed for a career-high 220 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries.

Plus, Tennessee’s defense had another strong performance to carry the Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC) past Auburn (3-2, 1-2), coached by former UT offensive coordinator Alex Golesh.

Tennessee plays Arkansas on Oct. 10 (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network) in Fayetteville. But first, let’s wrap up Week 5.

Here are seven takeaways from the Vols’ home game against Auburn.

Tennessee football vs. Auburn takeaways

Faizon Brandon was benched for George MacIntyre

Brandon, a five-star freshman, was benched after losing more yards than he gained. He was 3-of-8 passing for no yards and an interception that set up an Auburn touchdown. And he had minus-9 yards rushing, including two sacks.

MacIntyre, a former Brentwood Academy standout, replaced Brandon with UT trailing 7-3 with 3:42 remaining in the second quarter. MacIntyre finished 8-of-10 passing for 86 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

DeSean Bishop eclipsed 200 yards rushing for career high

MacIntyre’s passing loosened up Auburn’s defense, and the ground game seized the extra space.

Bishop, a former Karns High standout, broke touchdown runs of 25 and 44 yards in the third quarter to give the Vols a 17-7 lead. And he added a 5-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to seal it.

Tennessee rushed for at least 200 yards for the 39th time in Heupel’s tenure. It improved its record to 37-2 in those games, including 31 straight wins when reaching that mark.

Dejuan Lane led stingy Tennessee defense

Tennessee’s defense was smothering. It entered the game leading the nation in sacks, and it added four to its total.

Safety Dejuan Lane, a Penn State transfer, led the way. He had nine tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and an interception, his second of the season. Those were all career-high marks.

Linebacker Arion Carter recovered a fumble forced by defensive end Mariyon Dye. The Vols also got a critical fourth-down stop deep in Auburn territory in the fourth quarter, and nickelback Tevis Metcalf made a game-clinching interception with 51 seconds remaining.

Faizon Brandon interception set up Auburn touchdown

Brandon didn’t throw an interception in his first four games, but that changed in the worse way in the second quarter. He was picked off by linebacker Xavier Atkins on a rollout pass. It appeared that Brandon never saw the defender dropping into coverage.

The interception gave Auburn prime field position that it couldn’t earn with its offense. The Tigers scored a touchdown four plays later to go ahead 7-3. Brandon was replaced by MacIntyre on UT’s next offensive snap.

Before Auburn’s gift-wrapped TD drive, it hadn’t traveled farther than 24 yards on a possession.

Cooper Ranvier gave Vols their only first-half points

Tennessee kicker Cooper Ranvier made a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter when neither team could move the ball. It capped a 24-yard drive and put the Vols ahead 3-0.

Ranvier, a Louisville transfer, is 5-for-5 on field goals in his first UT season. He replaced Max Gilbert, who transferred to Arkansas after missing key kicks in critical moments last season.

Offensive line struggled with both injured guards out

Starting guards Sham Umarov and Wendell Moe did not play due to injuries, forcing the Vols to shuffle the offensive line.

Moe suffered a season-ending lower leg injury in a 20-17 loss to Texas on Sept. 26. Umarov left the same game with an undisclosed injury, and he was ruled out before the Auburn game.

In their absence, West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam made his first UT start at right guard. Sophomore Nic Moore, a former Jefferson County standout, made first start at left guard and second overall.

Moore also started at center in the Furman game on Sept. 5, when Sam Pendleton served a one-game suspension after being arrested on a DUI charge in May.

Tennessee ends drought vs. Auburn in Neyland Stadium

Tennessee hasn’t played Auburn on an annual basis since the early 1990s. But it had struggled against the Tigers in recent meetings, especially at Neyland Stadium.

UT had lost three straight home games to Auburn in the series (2004, 2009, 2013) and dropped seven of eight meetings overall. But the Vols stopped the skid by beating Auburn in Neyland Stadium for the first time since 1999.

UT improved to 23-29-3 in the all-time series.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: 7 Tennessee football takeaways from win over Auburn with QB George MacIntyre