Tennessee couldn’t get much going offensively in the first half of their 24-14 win over Auburn.

It wasn’t until the Vols made a couple of changes that the offense started to make some noise.

One of those changes was benching true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon in favor of redshirt freshman quarterback George MacIntyre.

The other change, which won’t generate as many headlines, was using 12 personnel (two tight ends) more in the second half.

Auburn head coach Alex Golesh told reporters after the game that his team struggled to stop the run in the second half after the Volunteers went to more 12 personnel sets.

“In the second half, it kind of flipped,” said Golesh. “We couldn’t stop the run. They got into 12 (personnel) and we couldn’t’ stop the run.”

Golesh noted that when Tennessee went 12 personnel, it opened things up some in the passing game for the Vols.

“We forced a ton of pressure in the first half,” said Golesh. “In that second half, I felt like when they got big and started running it — even in the passing situations — he (MacIntyre) took a couple of shots there. … We just didn’t get any pressure. They did a good job of protecting him.”

MacIntyre certainly operated the offense better than Brandon did on Saturday, but I don’t know if that will be the case moving forward (It’s going to be interesting to watch this quarterback situation play out the rest of the season).

What I think I do know, though, is that Heupel needs to stick with 12 personnel. That’s what is best right now for this offense.

Tennessee used more three wide receiver sets against Texas, and the offense couldn’t do anything (Radarious Jackson, the team’s No. 3 wide receiver, played 70 of 81 snaps against the Longhorns).

A big reason for that decision against Texas was the loss of tight end Ethan Davis, who suffered a season-ending injury in the Vols’ win over Georgia Tech.

But I think we saw against Auburn that 12 personnel is a must for the Vols right now. It gives Tennessee a better chance to protect the quarterback in passing situations and it helps the running game be more effective.

That’s not to say that Tennessee shouldn’t use any three wide receiver sets. I just think the Vols need to have two tight ends on the field as part of their “base offense” at this point.

The offense can grow as the quarterbacks grow. But for now, 12 personnel is clearly Tennessee’s offensive identity.