Brandon shines in debut as No. 20 Tennessee trounces Furman

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon made sure his first career college football game was one to remember. In his first start, Brandon went 13-of-17 passing for 226 yards, added 10 carries for 68 yards and accounted for five total touchdowns as No. 20 Tennessee handled Furman 56-9. Brandon was the first SEC player with three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in their first career start since Cam Newton did so for Auburn in 2010. "I thought he handled the purpose of what we were trying to accomplish very well," Vols head coach Josh Heupel said. "The communication part was really solid and his decision-making was really good. Extended and made some plays with his feet. Took care of the football." The opening minutes of the season went about as well as possible for the hosting Volunteers (1-0). New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles dialed up a successful opening series to force the Paladins (1-1) to go three-and-out with negative yardage. The bulk of damage was done on the first play, when Tyree Weathersby sacked Jake Garcia. When the Vols got the ball, Brandon orchestrated an eight-play drive that marched 60 yards in 2:59. He went 4-of-5 through the air for 43 yards and added a 12-yard rush in the drive and ended it with his first career touchdown pass to Ethan Davis. The rest of the quarter wasn't as kind to the Tennessee offense, though, as it only totaled 30 yards in the quarter outside of the scoring drive. In the second, though, the Vols were able to settle into the contest, scoring on all three possessions they had in the frame. They ran the ball in on all three drives, with Brandon finding the checkerboards twice and DeSean Bishop adding in a one-yard plunge in the frame. In total, Tennessee posted 182 total yards of offense in the second quarter, with 144 of them coming on the ground leading to the hosts holding a 28-0 advantage at the halftime break. Out of the break, Brandon and the Vols' offense aired it out. The freshman found junior wide receiver Mike Matthews on a pair of deep touchdown passes, one for 55 yards and another for 57, that made it a 42-0 affair. Matthews, who posted over 800 yards receiving last season, went for four catches and 132 yards in the blowout victory. "It really fills me up and makes me proud of what happened," Matthews said. "Coming up, I've got to lock in this next week. Get ready for the game and prepare to be just who I am." Following a 50-yard field goal by Furman's Nathan Chapman, the Vols subbed in the backup units late in the third quarter, including George MacIntyre at quarterback. The sophomore led another Tennessee scoring drive, going 75 yards in 10 plays. He found highly-touted freshman TK Keys in the end zone to conclude the drive for a 22-yard touchdown, the first career touchdown for both. In the fourth, Furman's Isaiah Davis took a third-down carry 23 yards for a touchdown to take advantage of a Tennessee turnover. Still, it was far too little to put the contest into much doubt. Justin Baker put the icing on the cake with a 73-yard house call, the longest touchdown run for the Vols since Jaylen Wright went 82 yards for a score in 2023 against UConn. The UT offense posted big time numbers throughout the afternoon, totaling 638 yards, 29 first downs and 8.6 yards per play. On the defensive side of the ball, Knowles' Tennessee debut was successful, as Furman only posted 221 total yards and went just 4-of-15 on third downs. "I thought, defensively, played extremely well," Heupel said. "If we don't turn it over, it's probably a shutout. Those guys have grown, worked and competed extremely hard to go play and start the season that way. Proud of the effort there from our staff and our players." The pass rush was particularly effective, as the Vols defense recorded six sacks. Three of them were by Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam, which is the highest total for a Vol defender since Darrell Taylor had a four-sack game against Kentucky in 2018. Up Next No. 20 Tennessee will hit the road and take on Georgia Tech next Saturday. Furman will enter SoCon play at Mercer.