Gameday has arrived. The 2026 Tennessee Volunteers will hit the field today in Knoxville, set to open against Furman. The Paladins are 1-0 after beating Anderson University last week in their opener.
It's all eyes on Faizon Brandon today as he makes his first start for the Volunteers. The true freshman quarterback was handpicked by Josh Heupel, arriving at Tennessee as a top five player from the class of 2026. Just several months ago, nobody expected Brandon to start, but Tennessee losing the Joey Aguilar case and not landing anything out of the transfer portal opened the door. And here we are today — the Faizon era is upon us.
It's also the debut of new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, along with a bunch of new faces on defense. Josh Heupel is hoping for a big step forward on that side of the ball after a leaky 2025 season.
Tennessee is nearly 50 point favorites in this spot, so expect to see plenty of youth take the field in the second half.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Streaming: ESPN App
TV: None
Odds: Tennessee -48.5
Total: 66.5
