Faizon Brandon

#11 · QB · Fr. · Tennessee6′4″ · 225 lb · Greensboro, NC · Grimsley

Passing yards697147th of 159 quarterbacks Last gameL 24–27at South Carolina · Oct 24

Nextvs KentuckySat Nov 7 · 6:15 pm ET

via utsports.com ↗

Did not play in Tennessee’s last 3 games.

George MacIntyre started the last one, L 24-27 at South Carolina, Oct 24.

Tennessee’s next game: vs Kentucky, Sat Nov 7, 6:15 p.m. ET · ESPN

Tennessee is 3-1 in the four games with 10 or more passes thrown. A mobile passer.

Weakest: sacked on 13% of dropbacks, 5th highest of 158 starters.

Plays most like Turner, Marshall.

Passing yards

697

61 of 101, 60%

TD–INT

7–1

6.9 per throw

NCAA rating

139.3

ZPR

not ranked yet

How ZPR works

Graded Rough against Texas, the last full game; solid or better in 2 of 4 graded games.

No interceptions all season, in four games.

Best by our grade: Furman. Lowest: Texas, sacked 9 times. Biggest game: Texas, No. 1.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Furman

W 56–9·FCS

Solid

Passing grade only · Carried by the third quarter · 226 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 10 for 68, 2 TD · Sacked 1

I watched Faizon Brandon play a HS game. Dude is a beast and seemed like a very mature QB. Excited to see how he develops.
Tennessee fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 13 points of win chance. Win chance: 68% to 81%.

Full game page

at Georgia Tech

W 45–24·Unranked

Shaky

148 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 22 · Sacked 1

Brandon is what I was told Nico would be
Tennessee fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 19 points of win chance. Win chance: 54% to 74%.

Full game page

Kennesaw State

W 42–9·Unranked

Solid

178 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 11 for 47, 1 TD · Lost a fumble · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 8 points of win chance. Win chance: 59% to 67%.

Full game page

Texas

L 17–20·Ranked #1

Rough

Passing grade only · Steady all game · 145 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 23 for 2 · Sacked 9

Brandon cannot throw and even if he could, he can only see half the field on each play.
Tennessee fan

Biggest swing: a Q4 completion added 37 points of win chance. Win chance: 8% to 45%.

Full game page

Auburn

W 24–14·Unranked

Left in Q2

Last pass came in the second quarter; George MacIntyre finished the game · 0 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for -9 · The interception cost about 12 points of win chance · Sacked 2

Brandon turned it over, got benched for GMac. Morris turned it over, hasn't been seen since. Look out Vols players, we have a new hardass Heupel.
Tennessee fan

Biggest swing: a Q2 interception cost the team 12 points of win chance. Win chance: 73% to 61%.

Full game page

at Arkansas

W 24–17·Unranked

Did not play

Alabama

W 26–10·Ranked #6

Did not play

Faizon Brandon and a Swiss cheese offensive line
Tennessee fan

at South Carolina

L 24–27·Unranked

Did not play

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game; on games with a lot of running it grades the passing only. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Mobile passer

Why this word

Runs6.4 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws8.3 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes58% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks13% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 6.4 carries a game. Closest matches: Turner, Lowry, Lyddy, Kelly ’25.

Where the throws go

Behind the line16%typical 17%

Short59%typical 47%

Middle13%typical 22%

Deep12%typical 14%

Runs 6.4 times a game; 73% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Turner Marshall · Balanced
608 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT so far. Both hit few big plays and are less efficient.
Lowry Western Michigan · Mobile passer
1,397 yards, 11 TD, 3 INT so far. Both protect the ball and are less efficient.
Lyddy Southern Miss · Balanced
1,326 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT so far. Both are less efficient and miss more.
Kelly ’25 Ball State 2025 · Run-first
1,560 yards, 10 TD, 8 INT. Both hit few big plays and are less efficient.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordTennessee is 6-2, No. 16 in the AP poll (week 10).
What fans say
Over the last few games, Tennessee fans have been down on Brandon's decision making.
“Faizon Brandon is 3/8 for 0 yards and 1 INT with a QBR of 12.5.”
“Brandon’s gotta help the receivers out”
“We gave them free points. Bench Brandon”
From r/CFB game threads. Read by AI.

What’s being said

41 stories in the last 30 days, from 14 outlets.

Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

Quarterback Faizon Brandon on SEC injury report for Tennessee vs Alabama

Knoxville News Sentinel +2 Oct 14

All 332 stories this season

His most important play this season

Q4, 1:22 · Tennessee down 10Faizon Brandon finds Mike Matthews for a 30-yard touchdownTexas at Tennessee, week 4Q4, 1:22 · Tennessee 17, Texas 20Tennessee cut the deficit to 3 in the fourth quarterTennessee cut the deficit to 3 in the fourth quarterF.Brandon pass complete deep right to M.Matthews caught at TEXAS00, for 30 yards to the TEXAS00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play

All 9 of his plays on video

Faizon Brandon

QB · Tennessee · Fr · #11

A game that shows it: 226 passing yards and 68 rushing yards against Furman — Week 1, 2026.

697 passing yards · 7 passing TD · 139 rushing yards

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Tennessee	61	101	60.4%	697	6.9	7	1	139.3	25
Career		61	101	60.4%	697	6.9	7	1	139.3	25

Season	Team
2026	Tennessee	53	130	2.5	3	22
Career		53	130	2.5	3	22

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 5 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 56-9vs Furman	Solid	13/17	226	3	0	13.3	—	1	68	Season-high 226 yds
Wk 2	W 45-24@ Georgia Tech	Shaky	10/21	148	2	0	7.0	88.7	1	22
Wk 3	W 42-9vs Kennesaw State	Solid	18/26	178	1	0	6.8	46.4	1	47
Wk 4	L 17-20vs No. 1 Texas	Rough	17/29	145	1	0	5.0	55.8	9	2
Wk 5	W 24-14vs Auburn	Left in Q2	3/8	0	0	1	0.0	0.1	2	-9
Total			61/101	697	7	1	6.9	—	14	130

The season, game by game

W 24-14 vs AuburnOct. 30 yds3 of 8, 1 INTBox score only

3 of 8 for 0 yards and an interception.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

L 17-20 vs TexasSept. 26145 yds17 of 29, 1 TD5 yds an attempt, tied for 111th in FBS

17 of 29 for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

3 more games, with the play by play

W 42-9 vs Kennesaw StateSept. 19178 yds18 of 26, 1 TD6.8 yds an attempt, 78th in FBS

Play by playOn the field

18 of 26 for 178 yards and a touchdown. He was 1 of 6 on third and fourth down.

7 of 9 of his drives scored
1 of 6 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
9 runs for 55 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD3 of 4, 50 yds12
TD3 of 4, 35 yds
Second quarterbegan up 15-3
FG2 of 4, 9 yds
Punt2 of 3, 22 yds
Fumble1 of 2, 8 yds
FG1 of 2, 8 yds
Third quarterbegan up 21-3
TD2 of 2, 8 yds
TD2 of 2, 23 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 35-3
TD2 of 3, 15 yds
FinalW 42-9

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
35-yard completion to Braylon Staley. First quarter, tied 0-0.
2
3-yard completion to Mike Matthews on 3rd and 6. First quarter, tied 0-0.

102030405035

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 45-24 at Georgia TechSept. 12148 yds10 of 21, 2 TD7 yds an attempt, 77th in FBS

Play by playOn the field

10 of 21 for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was 4 of 8 on third and fourth down.

5 of 9 of his drives scored
4 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
4 runs for 23 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD1 of 1, 25 yds
TD0 of 2, 0 yds1
FG2 of 4, 46 yds234
Second quarterbegan down 10-7
Punt1 of 4, 15 yds
TD1 of 3, 20 yds
Half0 of 1, 0 yds
Third quarterbegan up 24-10
TD1 of 1, 8 yds
Punt3 of 4, 22 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 31-17
Punt1 of 1, 12 yds
FinalW 45-24

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
Incomplete to Braylon Staley on 3rd and 11. First quarter, up 7-3.
2
45-yard completion to Radarious Jackson on 3rd and 12. First quarter, down 10-7. Converted.
3
3-yard run on 4th and 2. First quarter, down 10-7. Converted.
4
Incomplete to Javin Gordon on 3rd and 13. Second quarter, down 10-7. Broken up by Georgia Tech’s K. Hill.

102030405045

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 56-9 vs FurmanSept. 5226 yds13 of 17, 3 TD13.3 yds an attempt, 6th in FBS

Play by playOn the field

13 of 17 for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns; 13.3 yards an attempt, 6th-best in FBS that week. Tennessee scored touchdowns on 6 of the 8 drives he played.

6 of 8 of his drives scored
4 of 5 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
9 runs for 76 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD4 of 5, 43 yds1
Downs2 of 3, 10 yds2
Punt1 of 1, 5 yds3
Second quarterbegan up 7-0
TD—
TD3 of 3, 38 yds
TD0 of 2, 0 yds
Third quarterbegan up 28-0
TD2 of 2, 73 yds
TD1 of 1, 57 yds4
FinalW 56-9

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
6-yard completion to Trent Thomas on 3rd and 4. First quarter, tied 0-0. Converted.
2
Incomplete to Mike Matthews on 4th and 3. First quarter, up 7-0. Turnover on downs.
3
5-yard completion to Braylon Staley on 3rd and 4. First quarter, up 7-0. Converted.
4
57-yard touchdown pass to Mike Matthews. Third quarter, made it 42-0.

10203040505557

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	Furman	W 56-9 · Graded solid · Passing grade only · Carried by the third quarter · 226 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 10 for 68, 2 TD · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	Texas	L 17-20 · Graded rough · Passing grade only · Steady all game · 145 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 23 for 2 · Sacked 9
Biggest game	Texas	No. 1 at kickoff · L 17-20 · Graded rough · Passing grade only · Steady all game · 145 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 23 for 2 · Sacked 9

Where he ranks

Stat	His	Nation	SEC
Passing yards	697	142nd of 370	17th of 41
Yards an attempt	6.9	T-107th of 152	14th of 18
Touchdown passes	7	T-103rd of 370	T-15th of 41
Passer rating	139.3	71st of 152	12th of 18
Completion percentage	60.4	T-107th of 152	17th of 18
Rushing yards	130	91st of 370	12th of 41
Rushing touchdowns	3	T-53rd of 370	T-8th of 41

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All SEC quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	Trinidad Chambliss	2,189	18	8	296	7.4
2	Sam Leavitt	2,171	17	8	256	8.5
3	Keelon Russell	2,057	15	5	221	9.3
4	Austin Simmons	1,935	16	2	239	8.1
5	Lanorris Sellers	1,849	16	7	243	7.6
6	John Mateer	1,835	13	7	247	7.4
7	Kenny Minchey	1,755	14	1	232	7.6
8	Arch Manning	1,730	15	7	217	8.0
9	KJ Jackson	1,673	7	5	249	6.7
10	Gunner Stockton	1,671	16	4	181	9.2
11	Byrum Brown	1,557	9	7	246	6.3
12	Jared Curtis	1,489	8	8	197	7.6
13	Kamario Taylor	1,460	17	4	159	9.2
14	Marcel Reed	1,388	8	8	222	6.3
15	Aaron Philo	1,367	9	5	156	8.8
16	George MacIntyre	728	2	3	103	7.1
17	Faizon Brandon	697	7	1	101	6.9
18	Tramell Jones Jr.	579	4	3	89	6.5
19	Parker Puckett	390	1	2	74	5.3
20	Blaze Berlowitz	386	1	1	53	7.3
21	Ryan Puglisi	252	2	0	31	8.1
22	Landen Clark	235	1	0	32	7.3
23	AJ Hill	181	1	0	28	6.5
24	Brady Hart	143	2	1	21	6.8
25	Tristan Ti'a	137	0	0	16	8.6
26	Cutter Woods	100	1	1	17	5.9
27	AJ Swann	97	0	0	15	6.5
28	Husan Longstreet	95	0	0	10	9.5
29	Matt Zollers	87	0	0	13	6.7
30	Deuce Knight	68	0	1	8	8.5
31	Ryan Montgomery	66	1	0	6	11.0
32	Karle Lacey Jr.	63	0	0	9	7.0
33	Ryan Staub	27	0	0	3	9.0
34	Lucian Anderson III	24	0	0	2	12.0
35	Austin Mack	23	0	0	4	5.8
36	Nick Evers	18	0	0	2	9.0
37	Whit Muschamp	18	0	0	2	9.0
38	Hezekiah Millender	17	0	0	1	17.0
39	Whitt Newbauer	6	0	0	1	6.0
40	Bowe Bentley	0	0	0	1	0.0
41	Callum Wither	0	0	0	1	0.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -14 to +20 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Matthews and Staley saw 53 of the 101 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Mike Matthews	31	15	259	12.3	6.9
Braylon Staley	22	14	121	10.0	4.1
Radarious Jackson	13	8	113	11.8	6.4
Dasaahn Brame	7	4	31	6.0	2.5
DeSean Bishop	5	5	38	-0.8	8.4
8 others	22	15	135	5.2	5.6
No receiver charted	1	The interception is among these

Play by play: 101 passes, 61 caught, 697 yards. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

61/101 (60.4%) · 7 TD · 1 INT

101 of 101 attempts matched to play-by-play

101 of 101 attempts charted for true throw depth

Adjusted ANY/A

6.21109 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

12.2%177 of 185 QBs

Sacked on 12.2% of dropbacks (177 of 185) and Adjusted ANY/A trails the field (109 of 185).

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

17% of attempts (17)

82%comp

Air -2.9 · YAC 9.1 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

56% of attempts (57)

65%comp1 INT

Air 4.9 · YAC 3.8 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

13% of attempts (13)

38%comp

Air 14.4 · YAC 7.6 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

14% of attempts (14)

36%comp

Air 35.6 · YAC 8.8 avg

Overall 60.4% completion on 101 attempts · 36% completion on 14 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2026Tennessee6-2HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 38. Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

38Building sample?

13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interception rate (84th percentile). Strength: interceptions (93rd percentile). Concern: sack rate (4th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Interception rate#25 / 157 · 84th pct

1.0%

Explosive rate#124 / 157 · 21st pct

7.9%

EPA / dropback#132 / 157 · 16th pct

-0.00

Success rate#133 / 157 · 16th pct

36.5%

Sack rate#151 / 157 · 4th pct

12.2%

Box-score rates (8)

Interceptions#5 / 159 · 93rd pct

Rush TDs#42 / 159 · 69th pct

Fumbles lost#23 / 142 · 64th pct

Rush yards#75 / 159 · 53rd pct

130

Completion %#111 / 159 · 30th pct

60.4%

Yards / att#110 / 159 · 29th pct

6.9

Pass TDs#108 / 159 · 28th pct

Pass yards#147 / 159 · 8th pct

697

Season trend

EPA / dropback— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Sack rate— first qualifying season

Interception rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

Thin sample: 111 dropbacks

25Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks

Positive-play rate weight 24%

37.8%3rd pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -0.9% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

6.7321st pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

13.6%0th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +1.0% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (4 of 115 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 5 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home4g	137	1.2	6.3	0.2
Road1g	148	2.0	7.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-75g	139	1.4	6.4	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

Pass share

37.5%

207 pass / 345 run

Plays / game

69.0

8 games

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Tennessee’s quarterbacks

Faizon Brandon	Threw in 5 of 8 games · 61 of 101, 697 yds, 7 TD, 1 INT · 6.9 yards an attempt on 101 attempts · ran for 130 yds, 3 TD
George MacIntyre	Threw in 6 of 8 games · 69 of 103, 728 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT · 7.1 yards an attempt on 103 attempts · ran for -1 yds, 0 TD
Ryan Staub	Threw in 1 of 8 games · 3 of 3, 27 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 9.0 yards an attempt on 3 attempts

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Faizon Brandon. Gray: George MacIntyre, Ryan Staub. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4Furman@ Georgia TechKennesaw StateTexasAuburn@ ArkansasAlabama@ South Carolina

Awards

Player standing · 2026

101 pass attempts and 53 carries in 5 games

Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Heisman trajectory

Heisman futures · sportsbook market

#14 in market · 1 book

+50000.9% implied

Our Heisman model · 2026 · week 10

#146

Weeks outside our model's top 25 sit on the baseline.

Peak #15 · week 1

Avg #89.1

Finalist chance under 1%

Peaked at #15 in week 1; #146 as of week 10.

Our model's rank, not the betting market's.

Faizon Brandon

Style of play

This week

What’s being said

His most important play this season

In the news in the last 30 days

What they’re talking about

In the news this season

What they’re talking about

Week by week

What fans said

In the game threads

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Tennessee’s quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

101 pass attempts and 53 carries in 5 games

Heisman trajectory

#146

First season at Tennessee, 5 games

2026 5 games