Should Tennessee Football Be Worried About Faizon Brandon?

The Tennessee Vols suffered their first loss of the season and by all ways you look at it the offense was not good. Flat out, there are no excuses for that performance; the offense needs to play better. The defense did their job to keep Tennessee in the game, and special teams also added a touchdown. The issue was mainly on the offensive side of the ball, which is something that is not common under Josh Heupel.

As the leader of the offensive unit, the quarterback receives much praise when things go well, but also much of the blame when things do not live up to standards. After the loss to Texas, Faizon Brandon has received a lot of attention.

Should Tennessee Be Worried About Faizon Brandon

It would be dishonest to sit here and act as if Brandon played close to his best against Texas. He made numerous mistakes throughout the game. That is just a fact and perfectly okay to admit; every quarterback makes mistakes. Despite this, some are taking it too far and are now "out" on Brandon. I am here to say there is a balance.

This is especially true when considering that Brandon is an 18-year-old true freshman quarterback who just played his first SEC game against the team that has the best defense the Vols will face all season. His age is important to remember because growing pains are expected. There is no cause for concern whatsoever for Brandon.

Josh Heupel on Keeping Faizon Brandon Confident

"Yeah, first of all, he wants to play at a high level. He knows that he can, and he needs to play better than he did Saturday. But that's a young guy that, since he's gotten here, has taken ownership, takes correction, incorporates it into his game, and improves. Certainly, expect that from him this week. You know, I said at the beginning of the year, too, you got a young quarterback, the 10 other guys around him got to do their job at a high level to alleviate unforeseen circumstances for that guy, too, and that's part of the ownership that everybody on the offensive side of the ball has to have," Heupel said.

Age is not the only reason fans should pump the brakes on the Brandon talk. His head coach, Josh Heupel, gives further insight into why this does not project to be the norm we can expect for him in his career.

Key words Heupel says are "accountability", "ownership", and "improves". The fact that Brandon is so young but already mature enough to take ownership and accountability is massive. He is then able to use those in-game lessons and apply them to his game and improve. Many times, this takes players time to figure out, but Brandon has always had this.

He is not looking to place blame on others; he looks at what he personally can do to improve and better his own game. This is how great players are made. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is the response to the mistakes that allows people to grow. Brandon is growing from his mistakes.

Lastly, It Takes a Team

Just like Heupel said, it takes the whole team to have a functional offense. Though Brandon did not play his best, the other position groups were not at their best either. A true freshman quarterback needs support from his run game, receivers, and offensive line to win in big environments. Brandon got little support.

The offensive line got destroyed for most of the game, struggling to block not only in pass protection but also in run blocking. This meant Brandon did not enjoy a clean pocket but constantly had to deal with pressure and chaos. It was visible how uncomfortable it made him.

With no support in the run game, it allows the defense to zero in on the pass game. This only makes the job for the receivers and quarterback that much harder. It was not just on one player or position group; it was the whole team that needed to improve.

Projecting forward for Brandon

Yes, Brandon at times held the ball too long, missed receivers, and was noticeably hesitant. That can be acknowledged without putting all the blame for the offense on him. In fact, he did some things well that should give people hope.

I loved his toughness. That was evident when he continued to play after suffering a shoulder injury. He even refused to go out of the game when he was noticeably in pain, showing that he is willing to sacrifice for the team.

His deep ball looked beautiful when he did let it fly. I do wonder what people's perception of his game would have been if the defensive pass interference calls were ultimately catches. There were several times where Brandon threw a great ball to a receiver, drawing a penalty. If those were catches, his stats obviously go up and might change some of the narrative. Or even if it were NFL rules and those became spot fouls. The Vols would have certainly scored more points and possibly pulled that win off.

Faizon Brandon showed he has some improvement to do, just like the rest of the offense and every other young quarterback in the country. Brandon also showed traits that should be encouraging to every Volunteer fan. If what Heupel said continues to remain true, then I suspect Volunteer fans will be laughing about this week's conversation in the near future.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tennessee as Should Tennessee Football Be Worried About Faizon Brandon?.