Finally, we have arrived. The long offseason is over, and it's time to start figuring out just who this Tennessee team really is. The Volunteers open with Furman, which serves as a bit of a tune-up game ahead of their first test on the road next weekend against Georgia Tech.
According to Fanduel Sportsbook , Tennessee is a 48.5 point favorite against the Paladins. Furman has already played a game this year, beating Anderson University 20-3 last week.
You have to start here, of course. The 5-star true freshman quarterback will make his first career start on Saturday, getting his feet wet for the first time at Neyland Stadium. Brandon beat out George MacIntyre for the starting job, capitalizing on a strong spring period where he became a very real contender. Brandon, by all accounts, has been a first-guy-in-last-guy-out throughout the offseason, which was one of the main reasons he took the job.
Now it gets real. How much will we see offensively against a near 50 point underdog? That remains to be seen. Josh Heupel will likely keep things vanilla, but maybe we'll get to see the 6-3, 225 pound quarterback work a little bit down the field.
Jim Knowles will also make his Tennessee debut calling a new-look defense for the Volunteers. Tennessee was truly dreadful on that side of the ball last year, prompting Heupel to fire Tim Banks and go in a new direction. Again, you'll probably see a very vanilla approach here, but it will be interesting to see how all the new pieces work together right off the bat.
Tennessee has depth concerns at the LEO spot following the departure of Chaz Coleman. A lot will be put on Jordan Norman this season, but I'll be paying attention to who comes in behind him as the Vols try and build out some depth.
Safety is another interesting spot following the season-ending injury to Edrees Farooq. Tennessee will roll with Michigan transfer TJ Metcalf and Penn State transfer Dejaun Lane, but several other faces will see time.
MacIntyre lost the quarterback battle, but should see plenty of time in this one. Despite being around for a year already, we really don't know what Tennessee has in MacIntrye just yet. He's an injury away from being your starter, so hopefully he gets some live action to get his feet wet as well.
Remember, MacIntrye was a big-time prospect in his own right too coming out of Brentwood Academy in the mid-state. He appeared in just two games last season, completing seven of nine passes for 69 yards. MacIntyre seemingly has a chance to double those numbers on Saturday, assuming all goes well early on.
One answer that we really haven't gotten throughout camp is word on the wide receiver three battle. Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews are locked in, but who will the the third in three receiver sets? Radarious Jackson would see to be the default answer, but TK Keys and Travis Smith have each made their cases. In a game like this, all these guys are going to play. With the battle clearly not over, it's a massive chance to each guy to lay his claim to the job.
No, we're not putting Tennessee on upset alert like Jordan Rodgers did earlier this week. Tennessee will likely be able to name their score here, although some shaky moments wouldn't shock anyone with a true freshman quarterback.
Tennessee 59, Furman 10
The Volunteers should run right through a Furman team that only beat D-2 Anderson by 17 points in the opener. Tennessee's offensive line will be tough to handle, and DeSean Bishop will do plenty of damage — likely only playing for a half or so.
The biggest thing on Saturday? Get off the field with everyone healthy and ready for a trip down to Atlanta.
