What South Carolina's Shane Beamer said about Tennessee's quarterback situation

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer doesn't know which quarterback his defense will face against No. 11 Tennessee.

George MacIntyre, a sophomore, led the Vols to a 26-10 win over No. 13 Alabama last week. Freshman Faizon Brandon won the battle initially, starting five games before hurting his shoulder. Brandon was available vs Alabama but did not play.

The Gamecocks (3-3, 1-3 SEC) host Tennessee (6-1, 3-1) on Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has not named a starter.

“Both really really good players,” Beamer said Oct. 20 during his weekly press conference. “Brandon was a high school teammate of (South Carolina freshman DB) Kosci Barnes, so I remember going to ... Grimsley High School to check in on Kosci and Josh Heupel literally arrived at the same moment I did, and we were there at the same time … got a ton of respect for his ability."

Brandon is 61-of-101 for 697 passing yards, with seven touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked 10 times in the Vols' lone loss to Texas.

"MacIntyre ... you see him continuing to get better each and every week," Beamer said. "With his ability to run the offense, get rid of the ball when it's not there in the passing game, sit in the pocket, throw the ball downfield, but make good decisions and continue to play winning football. And that's what I think both those guys are doing a great job of is playing winning football.”

MacIntyre went 21-of-31 for 197 passing yards, zero touchdowns and one interception in the win over Alabama. On the season, he's he's 53-of-80 for 592 passing yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

"You gotta be prepared for both quarterbacks. Both quarterbacks are hell of a player, I think there's a reason why both quarterbacks have played," Gamecocks starting defensive lineman Tomiwa Durojaiye said. "I see an offense that's running like a well-oiled machine right now."

What Shane Beamer said about South Carolina's 2022 win over Tennessee

Tennessee hasn't been to Williams-Brice Stadium since Nov. 19, 2022, when the Gamecocks upset the then No. 5 ranked Vols 63-38, knocking them out of playoff contention.

The Gamecocks scored so many touchdowns they ran out of fireworks and it remains one of Beamer's biggest wins.

"I think I touched on it this morning for maybe five seconds in the team meeting, but it was more that you know Tennessee hasn't been in Columbia since 2022," Beamer said. "More important than reminiscing about that night is understanding how well we played that night in all three phases and preparing that way this week to go up against you know a completely different Tennessee team that was a great challenge back in 2022. It'll be a great challenge this Saturday also."

The Vols got revenge a season later with a 41-20 victory in Knoxville but the two teams haven't met since.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky ‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

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