The 102,000 Tennessee football fans packed into Neyland Stadium held their breath as Faizon Brandon went down with an apparent right shoulder injury.

Sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre entered for one full drive before Brandon returned to an ovation late in the second quarter. The true freshman struggled to get in a rhythm in his first true test against No. 1 Texas (4-0, 1-0 SEC), a 20-17 loss for Tennessee (3-1, 0-1) at Neyland Stadium.

"(He's) mentally and physically tough," Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. "He'll learn a bunch from this one."

Brandon finished the game 17-of-29 for 145 yards and a lone touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. He rushed the ball another 23 times — including a second-quarter rush where he was injured — for two yards. He took 10 sacks, five of which came from touted Texas pass rusher Colin Simmons.

The true freshman commanded the Tennessee offense to 221 total yards.

"Quarterback — not good enough," Heupel said.

Brandon's furthest pass went for 30 yards. It was a the touchdown pass to Mike Matthews to set Tennessee up for a successful onside kick.

He consistently settled for underneath throws and couldn't hit on deep shots. He missed a fourth-and-seven throw to Braylon Staley in the closing minutes of the first half, which prevented Tennessee from getting points inside Texas territory.

He was picked up by a 57-yard punt-return touchdown by Qua Moss in the third quarter. Still, Brandon couldn't capitalize on the following offensive drive. The signal-caller picked up a first down, but then was sacked on back-to-back plays by Simmons to force a punt.

Brandon failed to establish footing on the Vols' final drive that ended in an incomplete Hail Mary. Tennessee committed a holding penalty and a false start on the drive, while drawing a 15-yard facemask penalty on Texas.

"He's disappointed," Heupel said. "Not from the injury, (but) not playing to the standard offensively."

Trevor McGee covers the Knoxville Smokies and One Knox SC for Knox News. Email: trevor.mcgee@knoxnews.com; X: @TrevorMcGee12

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Josh Heupel saw from Faizon Brandon in Tennessee football loss vs Texas

Source: Yahoo Sports