Former LSU head coach Brian Kelly is predicting that Texas will beat Tennessee in Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

But he doesn’t think it’ll be a blowout.

“I think Texas will end up winning this football game,” said Kelly this week. “I think it’ll be a great game going to the fourth quarter, and it leans on Arch Manning making the big drive late.”

Kelly isn’t making that prediction because of a lack of belief in Vols true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon.

It’s simply Brandon’s lack of experience in big games that led to Kelly’s pick.

Kelly, who pointed out that he recruited Brandon at LSU (the Tigers were the Vols’ top competition in that recruiting battle), said this week on College Sports Radio on Sirius XM that he loves the North Carolina native.

The former LSU coach also said that he thought Brandon was the best high school quarterback in the country.

“I’ll preface it by saying that I recruited him,” said Kelly. “I thought he was the best high school quarterback in the country. I love him. But the moment is big. It is really big. And I just feel like the guy that in this game a year ago we were talking about and whether he could handle the big moment was Arch Manning. I think Arch is seasoned enough now to go into this game and be the one that actually closes the deal for Texas. I think it’s gonna be a great football game.”

This will be the biggest game that Brandon has ever played in — it’s understandable if he has some nerves going into it.

But the most important thing Brandon can do is just embrace the moment. He’s not going to play perfect against Texas. And that’s okay — he just needs to play free and play his game for the Vols to have a chance on Saturday against the Longhorns.