Tennessee coach Josh Heupel will look to tweak his offense, with little time to do it, before Saturday afternoon’s Southeastern Conference game against Auburn in Knoxville, Tenn.
The now-No. 17 Volunteers (3-1, 0-1) struggled when they had the ball against No. 1 Texas in a 20-17 Tennessee loss that included a successful onside kick and one final shot at the upset in front of 101,915 fans at Neyland Stadium.
However, as they had done for most of the game, the Volunteers could not muster the offense needed.
While the team’s defense allowed Heisman hopeful Arch Manning and the Longhorns only 262 yards on offense, Tennessee’s offense allowed 10 sacks and posted just 221 yards.
The Volunteers’ first touchdown came when Tennessee’s special teams chipped in with Qua Moss’ 57-yard punt return.
In his first conference start, Vols freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon completed 17 of 29 passes for just 145 yards, including a 30-yard pass to Mike Matthews with 1:22 to play for the offense’s only touchdown.
“First of all, he wants to play at a high level,” Heupel said Monday of Brandon, who has not thrown an interception this season. “That’s a young guy that, since he’s gotten here, has taken ownership, takes correction and incorporates it into his game and improves. Certainly expect that from him this week.”
Heupel said he does not want “reckless decisions” from Brandon but added, “There were windows and opportunities, timing, whatever it might be, some of those things where he’s just gotta let it rip.”
Auburn (3-1, 1-1) earned its first conference win under coach Alex Golesh in a 21-15 showing Saturday over Vanderbilt, which entered the matchup 3-0.
The Tigers blocked a punt for a touchdown and knocked down a Commodores field-goal attempt.
Two of Auburn’s three victories are over Power Four schools — Baylor and Vanderbilt — and Golesh has strong ties with Heupel.
Taking a co-offensive coordinator spot under Heupel, Golesh joined the UCF staff in 2020 and mentored Dillon Gabriel to a season that produced over 3,500 yards passing, 32 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Golesh then headed north with Heupel to Rocky Top and was the offensive coordinator who guided the program to its most productive season ever, as the team led the nation with an average of 46.1 points per game in 2022. Golesh then moved on to lead South Florida.
“I’ve got so much respect for coach Heupel,” Golesh said Monday. “He gave me an opportunity in 2020 (and at Tennessee). He changed a lot of ways how I look at offensive football and running a program.
“I think (the familiarity) would give you an advantage if they didn’t also have so much familiarity with your staff. I think the longer you do this, the more you end up with crossover like that.”
Auburn leads the series 29-22-3, but the teams have not met since November of 2020.
The visit will be the Tigers’ first to Knoxville since Nov. 9, 2013, in a game that resulted in a 55-23 Auburn rout directed by quarterback Nick Marshall and running back Tre Mason as the Tigers rushed for 444 yards and five touchdowns.
