Alex Golesh Talks Tennessee’s Quarterback Swap After Auburn Loss

The Auburn Tigers went into halftime against the Tennessee Volunteers up 7-3, as the defense held true freshman Tennessee quarterback Faizon Brandon to zero passing yards and appeared to be the dominant force in Knoxville.

However, just before halftime, the Vols benched Brandon in favor of George MacIntyre, another freshman, who led the Vols’ offense to incredible success against an Auburn defense that once controlled the flow of the game.

MacIntyre went 8-for-10 on passing attempts for a total of 86 yards, managing the game just well enough to open up the Vols’ rushing attack, and Tennessee RB1 DeSean Bishop torched the Tigers for a total of 220 yards and three touchdowns, the most by a single player against the Tigers this season.

So, what happened? After all, the Tigers’ defense looked so dominant in the first half that Tennessee was forced to bench their starter. Why did the backup seem to have DJ Durkin’s number? Alex Golesh explained his thought process after the game.

“He was as efficient as you can imagine,” Golesh said. “I think at one point he was 6-for-6… we forced a ton of pressure in the first half, but in that second half… we just didn’t get any pressure. They max protected him; they did a good job of protecting him, but we certainly didn’t affect him in any way.”

Even before the game, many speculated that pressuring Tennessee’s quarterback, whoever it may be, would be the path to winning the game for the Tigers. The Vols allowed 10 sacks against Texas in their lone loss of the season, and Auburn was looking to continue that pressure in an effort to limit Tennessee’s offense as much as possible.

There was a reason Brandon passed for zero yards through a half: Auburn kept the pressure on him. Da’Shawn Womack picked up his first two sacks of the season on the same first-quarter drive, ending the Vols’ hopes of an early score, but the Tigers only picked up one sack after that.

All things considered, the Tigers still managed to outpace the Vols in total offensive production, accumulating 345 total offensive yards to Tennessee’s 323, though they did lose the turnover battle 3-2. The Tigers’ defense, by no means, had a bad day against the Vols, but they’ll need to make sure they are able to pressure opposing quarterbacks for all four quarters if they want to compete in the rest of their schedule.

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