Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre had one of the strangest games you’ll ever see in the Vols’ loss to South Carolina two weeks ago.

MacIntyre’s stat line wasn’t gaudy — 136 passing yards and no touchdowns — and he made a mistake on the Vols’ penultimate drive that would’ve sealed the win for Tennessee.

And yet many feel that it was the best game that MacIntyre’s played in his young career.

That’s because MacIntyre, who hasn’t officially been named by head coach Josh Heupel as the Vols’ starting quarterback, had three touchdown passes wiped off the board due to penalties that didn’t impact the play. If those plays aren’t erased because of penalties, then Tennessee wins by multiple scores and MacIntyre finishes with 200-plus passing yards and three touchdowns on the road.

VolQuest’s Austin Price suggested on Tuesday during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will that many folks inside the building at Tennessee viewed it as MacIntyre’s best performance this season.

“I think George is your quarterback,” said Price. “I know Josh Heupel doesn’t want to label it, but I will: George is your starting quarterback. I think for that to change, that means Tennessee has to fail [and] George has to fail. And nobody wants that to happen because Tennessee obviously wants to try to win out and see if they can slide into the College Football Playoff.

“I think for George, he did some really nice things at South Carolina. I think most people in the building viewed it as his best game to date. But I think for everybody outside of the building — the fans, so to speak — they just remember those last two series. They remember the miscommunication on the fourth down, which really was the blunder that cost Tennessee the game. And then the strip sack, obviously, was not ideal. But that’s just players making plays. … George has got to continue to learn from that and continue to build on that. But he grew, to me, immensely from Arkansas to Bama and Bama to South Carolina. And you’re hoping he grows even more now from South Carolina to Kentucky.”

It’s not a surprise to hear that MacIntyre’s game against South Carolina is viewed inside the building at UT as his best game to date. No high-level coaching staff is judging a quarterback on the box score, and anyone who watches that film can see the growth in MacIntyre’s game and the confidence he’s playing with.

MacIntyre will need to continue to grow down the stretch for the Vols to win out. He doesn’t have to be perfect — Tennessee’s defense is good enough to keep the team in games when the offense isn’t putting 30-plus points on the board — but he’ll likely need to generate some explosive plays for the Vols to go 4-0 in November.