Tennessee’s Josh Heupel just took the mind games with Alabama to another level just days before huge showdown in Knoxville
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel is all about some gamesmanship this week ahead of matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel is taking the gamesmanship to another level this week ahead of his team’s big showdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Heupel isn’t naming a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Alabama.
On Monday, I wrote that Heupel isn’t fooling anyone with this approach because the only option that makes sense is sophomore George MacIntyre, who started in Tennessee’s win over Arkansas last weekend.
MacIntyre makes the most sense because he’s played well the last two weeks (against Auburn and Arkansas) and also because true freshman Faizon Brandon, who started the first five games of the season, hasn’t really practiced the last two weeks (Brandon injured his shoulder in the loss to Texas and was pulled in the first half of the Auburn game two weeks ago).
So based on the information through Monday, anyone with a pulse has been saying that MacIntyre is the only viable option.
Well, things changed a bit on Tuesday.
Various reports on Tuesday afternoon indicated that Brandon is taking reps at practice this week.
“As for Tennessee at quarterback, there’s some ambiguity here going forward this week,” reported ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “George MacIntyre made his first career start at Arkansas last week and obviously had his ups and downs. I’ve been told by sources that Faizon Brandon has experienced an uptick in practice reps this week.
“No decision is imminent on who will start in this game, but Faizon Brandon’s availability, coming off that shoulder injury against Texas, appears to give him a better shot at getting some snaps in this game. We may end up seeing both quarterbacks (against Alabama), but there’s no clarity yet on who will be the starter.”
On3’s Pete Nakos also reported that Brandon practiced on Tuesday.
I still think it makes the most sense for MacIntyre to start against Alabama. He showed some progress against Arkansas and he’s building some in-game chemistry with the wide receivers. I don’t think it would be a good idea for Brandon’s first action after two weeks off to be against Alabama — especially since Brandon hasn’t play well in six quarters of action against SEC opponents.
This report, though, means that Alabama has to seriously consider the possibility that Brandon will play, which means they have to spend time preparing for the freshman quarterback.
And that’s exactly what Heupel wants.
“Anytime as a coach that you know exactly what you’re getting, who you’re getting, skill sets that you’re facing — and it’s at all positions, but certainly at that position too — it allows you the luxury of being able to scheme throughout the course of the week in preparation,” said Heupel last week on The Mike Keith Show. “There’s going to be differences in how you call the game and differences in what you’re practicing to face an opponent.”
Heupel is looking for any possible advantage he can get in this game. I don’t know if it’ll make any difference, but it’s at least a small headache for Alabama’s coaching staff to not know for sure who will be starting at quarterback for the Volunteers on Saturday in Knoxville.
