Tennessee sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre got a win in his first career start.

MacIntyre passed for 247 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in the Volunteers’ 24-17 win over Arkansas on Saturday. It was Tennessee’s first win in Fayetteville since 2001.

True freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon started the first five games of the season for the Vols, but he was replaced by MacIntyre in the second quarter of Tennessee’s win over Auburn last weekend.

Brandon suffered a shoulder injury against Texas two weeks ago and was ineffective in the first half against Auburn.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel told ESPN before the Arkansas game that he didn’t want to use Brandon against the Razorbacks due to the injury.

After the game, Heupel told reporters that Tennessee will “play it by ear” going forward when it comes to the quarterback situation.

Josh Heupel has interesting response when asked how Faizon Brandon handled getting “benched”

Heupel was asked during his postgame press conference how Brandon has handled getting benched.

Tennessee’s head coach quickly pointed out that Brandon is dealing with an injury. He didn’t describe the situation as Brandon getting “benched.”

“Faizon is dealing with an injury,” said Heupel. “George handled it well when Faizon got named the starter. Faizon has handled it well [while] dealing with his shoulder and he’s continuing to stay invested at practice and in the meeting room helping that room out. He was here for emergency use only this week.”

It seems clear that Heupel doesn’t view the situation as Brandon getting benched.

Now, what does that mean for the quarterback situation moving forward?

Well, I’m not sure even Heupel knows right now.

I think it’s obvious that he still has a lot of belief in Brandon (and he should — Brandon is in the infancy of his college football career). But at the same time, MacIntyre has played well enough the last two weeks for the Vols to beat two SEC opponents in tight games (Tennessee was trailing 7-3 against Auburn when MacIntyre entered the game). He deserves more opportunities.

Essentially, I think Heupel sees this quarterback battle as ongoing (which is why they’re currently listed as co-starters). A lot of it depends on Brandon’s health (and we don’t really know the timeline on his injury). But I don’t think either of these quarterbacks are getting crowned until one of them has a lights out performance that screams “I’m the guy.”