Tennessee picks starting QB for Alabama showdown with Faizon Brandon on injury report

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Tennessee is set for a top-25 clash on Saturday as they host Alabama. Earlier this week, head coach Josh Heupel was cryptic about who would start at quarterback. George MacIntyre started last week against Arkansas, while Faizon Brandon was benched the week before and was on the injury report. Brandon is once again on the injury report for the game against Alabama.

With Brandon listed as questionable, Tennessee has made a decision on their starter, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.

“George MacIntyre is set to start for No. 14 Tennessee against No. 6 Alabama this weekend, which will be his second-straight week as starter. Faizon Brandon was listed as questionable for the Volunteers,” Thamel posted on X, formerly Twitter.

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MacIntyre was beat out for the starting job in the preseason by Brandon. MacIntyre appeared in two games in 2025, taking a red-shirt season. He saw action against Furman and Texas, completing six of ten passes for 62 yards. MacIntyre then replaced Brandon in the game against Auburn. In that game, he completed eight of ten passes for 86 yards and was sacked once. Last week, in the start against Arkansas, he completed 18 of 29 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. Still, he was intercepted twice in the game.

MacIntyre will need to fix the turnovers in this game with Alabama. The Tide are 12th in the nation in turnover margin and fifth in takeaways per game. Further, giving a short field to Alabama will lead to points against the defense. The Crimson Tide boast the number one scoring offense in the nation, and they are the top red zone offense as well.

Alabama and Tennessee will face off on Saturday with kickoff at 3:30 pm ET.

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