‘He’ll never get credit for it’ – ESPN’s Cole Cubelic brought up something that George MacIntyre is doing that isn’t getting enough attention
Tennessee sophomore George MacIntyre is 3-1 as the Volunteers’ starting quarterback this season.
Tennessee sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre is looking more comfortable each week.
MacIntyre, who attempted just nine passes as a true freshman last season, took over as Tennessee’s quarterback in the Vols’ win over Auburn early last month.
The Tennessee native led the Volunteers to a come-from-behind win over Auburn and he’s gone 3-1 as the program’s starting quarterback since.
MacIntyre had some shaky moments in his first couple of games after taking over as the Vols’ starting quarterback. He threw two interceptions in his first start against Arkansas and another interception in his second start against Alabama.
Only one of the interceptions was completely on MacIntyre.
MacIntyre hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 10 quarters (the second half against Alabama and against South Carolina and Kentucky).
The biggest reason — outside of the fact that he’s simply getting more reps under his belt each week — is because when MacIntyre is missing on throws, he’s not missing in a spot where a defender can make a play on the ball.
This is something that ESPN’s Cole Cubelic says MacIntyre isn’t getting enough credit for.
“I thought MacIntyre made some good throws (against Kentucky),” said Cubelic. “I thought more importantly, on the throws that he missed down the field, he missed in the right places. It’s one of the things that I think he’s excelled at that he’ll never get credit for — because they’re basically incompletions. But he’s not putting the ball in harm’s way a lot, and I think he’s very mature with how he’s handling the quarterback situation in Knoxville.”
Vols legend Peyton Manning always talks about the importance of throwing the ball away or avoiding a sack. Those are the “boring” plays that can save drives.
Peyton, in fact, gave this advice to former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar last year before the start of the 2025 season.
“My advice to Joey was don’t try to do too much,” said Manning. “Don’t feel like you have to go and make some incredible throw in that first game against Syracuse, or during your first home game against ETSU, to justify that you’ve been named the starting quarterback.
“Take the check down, run, throw it away. Nobody’s going to criticize you for throwing it away on third down if nobody’s open. I think that’s easier said than done sometimes.”
MacIntyre spent time with Peyton at the Manning Passing Academy back in the summer, and I’m sure Peyton shared that same advice with him.
And it certainly sounds like MacIntyre listened.
