Texas Film Room: Faizon Brandon Has Been Great So Far, But The Longhorns Have a Plan

The No. 1 Texas Longhorns will kickoff Southeastern Conference-play at Neyland Stadium against the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers in a battle for who the real 'UT' is. It will be the first gridiron-meeting of the two orange-and-white schools since 1968.

The Volunteers enter the game with a +101 scoring-differential across true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon's first three games, a commendable achievement for both him and head coach Josh Heupel. Brandon has quickly learned Heupel's potent 'Veer-and-Shoot' offense, tallying 552 passing yards and six touchdowns without throwing an interception thus far in the season.

However, the Volunteers' last opponent, the Kennesaw State Owls, demonstrated a way to limit Brandon and the veer and shoot, one which Texas' defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is very familiar with.

How Kennesaw State Limited Faizon Brandon, And How The Longhorns Can Improve On Their Theory

Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Will Muschamp observes his players before a game against the UTSA Roadrunners | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The veer and shoot is predicated on extreme spacing for its wideouts, option routes, a down-hill rushing attack and essentially forcing the defense to defend the endzone on every play while either being out-manned in the box or unprotected against the pass.

The Owls countered this by frequently dropping eight men into coverage, maximally protecting them against deep shots and forcing Brandon to find other answers.

Take this play for example:

Tennessee Volunteers football — Carter Long

Here Kennesaw State shows three down-linemen with a linebacker walked-up to the line of scrimmage, though he also drops into pass-coverage.

The defensive ends, labeled '1' and '3,' are placed on the inside shoulders of the offensive tackles while the nose tackle is placed head-up on the center, the goal of their alignment being better control of the run.

The Volunteers run a play-action pass with their two outside receivers running deep outs to clear space for a15-yard curl from the slot receiver in the middle of the field.

The Owls respond by dropping eight defenders into something akin to 'Cover 8,' defending the strong side with a 'Cover 2'-look and the weak side with 'Cover 4.'

The surplus of Owls in coverage leaves Brandon without a good option to throw to, as every receiver is either too nearly covered by a defender or in a position where they will be quickly tackled after the pass. He does well to scramble out of the pocket and run for a solid gain, though he was clearly frustrated by the coverage.

Brandon finished the game completing 18 of 26 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, doing a good job of taking what the defense gave him. However, he also went zero for four on passes beyond 20 yards after entering the game four for six on such attempts.

Kennesaw State's strategy kept a lid on Brandon, however the Owls still lost 42-9, in part because their 'drop-eight' strategy opened some major holes in the run game for talented backs Daune Morris, Desean Bishop and Hunter Barnes. The trio combined for a dizzying 221 yards on 7.4 yards per-carry.

Tennesee Running Game Highlights against Kennesaw State Three-Down Fronts

The Volunteers are averaging the second-most rushing yards per game in the country (283.5) and fifth-most per carry (6.6)

Good Veer-and-Shoot Offenses expect these looks and have ways to beat them pic.twitter.com/KaQ8qolBxF
— Carter Long (@carter_long818) September 24, 2026

Will Muschamp has historically used similar three-down fronts to stop Veer-and-Shoot offenses, however his 'Mint 4 MOD' operates differently than Kennesaw State's 'drop-eight.' Muschamp is more aggressive stopping the run, eliminating quick passes and rushing the passer because he has linemen and defensive backs who can better hold up one-on-one against SEC-players than the Owls could.

He has already shown a propensity for these three-down looks against another Veer-and-Shoot team, the Texas State Bobcats, whom the Longhorns held to 3.6 yards per-designed rush.

Texas Longhorns 3-Down Run-Stopping Highlights vs Texas State

Expect similar looks when Muschamp travels to Neyland pic.twitter.com/P6arPvFc1b
— Carter Long (@carter_long818) September 24, 2026

Muschamp's defense is more comfortable using seven coverage defenders but maintains the same shell over the top of these type of offenses. It also does a better job controlling gaps in under-manned boxes.

Longhorns defensive tackle Hero Kanu has already said that their goal is to hold Tennessee under 100 yards rushing.

If Texas can do that while keeping the top on Brandon and the veer and shoot, the Longhorns will enter week five with a second top-15 win under their belt.

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