Sophomore George MacIntyre will start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols this weekend on the road against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

MacIntyre is getting the start after true freshman Faizon Brandon, who started the first five games of the season, was benched in the first half of Tennessee’s 24-14 win over Auburn last weekend.

Brandon hasn’t been playing his best football the last couple of weeks, and he’s also dealing with an injury to his throwing shoulder.

At this point, it’s unclear what Tennessee’s quarterback situation will look like the rest of the season. Both quarterbacks are talented players, but one of them has to step up and take the job. MacIntyre gets his chance to take it on Saturday against the Razorbacks.

Former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe shares thoughts on the Vols’ quarterback situation

Some fans and analysts are down on Brandon because of the way he’s played in two SEC starts.

There’s no denying that Brandon has had some struggles, but no one should be giving up on him. Most quarterbacks — even Hall of Famers — aren’t ready to start in the SEC at 18 years old.

That’s something that former Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe reminded everyone of this week during an appearance on The George Plaster Show.

“Here’s what I want to remind people,” said Cutcliffe. “I had Jerry Colquitt as a starter in Peyton Manning’s freshman year, and it was also Branndon Stewart’s freshman year. And with a couple of other quarterbacks leaving, that’s what we had available to us. We go to UCLA, and my intention was to play Jerry for most of the game. We also had Todd Helton. … So I did put Todd in (after Colquitt was hurt), and then ultimately played Peyton, Branndon, and Todd.

“And then Todd gets hurt at Mississippi State, and the rest is history. But Peyton wasn’t ready to start as a true freshman. Neither was Branndon Stewart, and Peyton was ahead of him. Eli Manning, I redshirted him at Ole Miss. He wasn’t ready. I called Archie (Manning) and I said, ‘Eli’s not ready. I’m going to redshirt him. I’m going to play Romaro Miller and back him up with David Morris.’ And it was a great decision for Eli and for us. And Archie said to me, ‘You know what you’re doing. You do what you think is right.’”

“What we’re doing now with quarterbacks, even if you’re a young transfer, it’s hard,” added Cutcliffe. “If you’re a true freshman, it’s really hard. And I watched what was going on with Texas — their four-man rush was brutal. … You’ve got to throw it on time. You’ve got to have a pre-snap plan, a post-snap plan, then boom, the ball. And if it doesn’t go there, you pull it down and go inside, not outside, and try to run it. Particularly if you’re that kid (Brandon). But he got brutalized. And he’s beat up — you could tell he had a shoulder issue during that game. So I’m sure it reappeared. And then I know George and I know his dad well. I’ve worked with Mike (MacIntyre) a lot, and I have utmost respect for George MacIntyre and his career. So I was happy for George (to get a chance to play).”

I think the most important takeaway from Cutcliffe’s comments is that this quarterback situation just has to play out. No one knows how either Brandon or MacIntyre will play the rest of the season. The best answer will eventually reveal itself.

The other takeaway is that these quarterbacks are still young. And yes, I know they’re getting paid, but that doesn’t change the development process. I mean, Peyton is one of the greatest ever, and he needed time to develop. Who knows if his career turns out the same if he didn’t have four seasons with Cutcliffe…