Arkansas defender called out Vols QB George MacIntyre for a rookie mistake that Tennessee fans hope they won’t see again
Tennessee sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre suffered some growing pains in the Volunteers’ win over Arkansas.
It was far from perfect, but sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre led the Tennessee Vols to a 24-17 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon in Fayetteville.
MacIntyre completed 18-of-29 pass attempts for 247 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in the win.
One of MacIntyre’s interceptions was the result of getting hit as he was throwing the ball.
The other interception was simply the result of inexperience.
Arkansas defender calls out George MacIntyre for staring down his receivers
Arkansas had all the momentum in the game early in the third quarter after scoring its first touchdown of the game and then intercepting MacIntyre on the second play of the Vols’ ensuing drive.
MacIntyre threw a 50/50 ball down the sideline to wide receiver Braylon Staley, but he never saw safety Miguel Mitchell, who came from midfield and intercepted the ball just before stepping out of bounds.
Mitchell told reporters after the game that MacIntyre was “staring down his receivers.”
“He was staring down his receivers a little bit,” said Mitchell. “They put me back there and coach put emphasis all week on playing with range. I saw him throw it out there, and I honestly didn’t think I could get to it, but I made a nice play.”
That’s a moment that MacIntyre will learn from. It’s something that happens to all young quarterbacks at some point (it happens to experienced quarterbacks sometimes, too).
I haven’t seen the non-TV copy of the game, so I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that MacIntyre was staring down his receivers the entire game (there were definitely times where he went through all of his progressions before making a throw). But he certainly locked in on Staley on this particular play.
In the future, we’ll see MacIntyre move the safety with his eyes and create enough of a window to make the throw to Staley down the sideline.
You obviously never want to throw an interception, but this is one of the times when it can almost be considered a good thing (especially since it didn’t cost Tennessee the game). It’s an important moment of growth for a young quarterback — and it helps that the defender revealed exactly what he saw, so MacIntyre will know what not to do going forward.
