Tennessee true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s struggles from last week against Texas carried over to the Vols’ 24-14 win against Auburn on Saturday.

Brandon, who completed three passes for 0 yards, looked uncomfortable in the pocket in the first half. He was benched in the second quarter by head coach Josh Heupel after throwing his first career interception and was replaced by redshirt freshman George MacIntyre.

MacIntyre led the Vols on three scoring drives in the second half (all three ended with rushing touchdowns from DeSean Bishop). He completed 8-of-10 passes for 86 yards.

The production wasn’t eye-popping, but MacIntyre clearly looked more comfortable on Saturday.

After the game, Auburn linebacker Elijah Melendez was asked why he thought Tennessee’s offense operated better with MacIntyre in the game.

Interestingly, Melendez said he thought MacIntyre could “see the routes better.”

“I think their quarterback (MacIntyre) could see better,” said Melendez. “[He’s] a tall quarterback. I feel like he could see routes better. And he just came in and made an impact.”

There’s no question that MacIntyre was seeing the field better than Brandon was, but I don’t think it’s because of the slight height difference between the two.

MacIntyre is listed at 6-foot-6 and Brandon is listed at 6-foot-4. The extra couple of inches certainly helps, but it’s not like Brandon is Kyler Murray back there.

Ultimately, I think MacIntyre was seeing it better because he was more relaxed and in the flow of the game more than Brandon was.

Either way, one of Auburn’s top linebackers clearly saw a big difference in Tennessee’s quarterback play from his vantage point on the field on Saturday.