Tennessee held its second (and final) fall scrimmage on Saturday, but Vols head coach Josh Heupel isn’t ready to publicly name a starter just.

At some point between now and the season opener on September 5 against Furman, however, Heupel will name a starter.

And when he makes that announcement, the feeling exiting the second scrimmage is that true freshman Faizon Brandon has the edge over redshirt freshman George MacIntyre.

Neither quarterback was perfect in the second scrimmage — pass protection was reportedly an issue — but it sounds like Brandon had the better day in large part because of his ability to make plays with his legs.

“Sources told On3 that Brandon had the better day of the two quarterbacks,” reported On3’s Pete Nakos. “The true freshman and former five-star recruit was not perfect, but his ability to make plays in the running game stood out again.”

“At this point, sources give Brandon the edge,” added Nakos. “But he’s still a true freshman acclimating to pass protections at the college level. It won’t be a surprise to see Tennessee play both quarterbacks in Week 1 against Furman.”

With this battle as competitive as it is, Brandon’s ability to make plays with his legs should be the deciding factor for Heupel as he gets ready to name a starter for the Furman game. Having that as a weapon could help the offense navigate the early-season growing pains that a young quarterback will inevitably face (especially on the road against Georgia Tech in Week 2).

But regardless of who actually starts the opener, I think it’s fair to say that this battle won’t fully be settled until we see how the quarterbacks play in real games.

Brandon will likely get the first chance to take a stronghold on the job, but if he falters early, I’d expect MacIntyre to get a chance to show what he can do under the lights.