No. 18/20 Tennessee Hands Furman First Loss of 2026

 

No. 18/20 Tennessee 56, Furman 9

KNOXVILLE, TN—Freshman phenom quarterback Faizon Brandon accounted for 294 yards of total offense and had five touchdown responsibilities, as No. 18/20 Tennessee coasted to a 56-9 win over Furman in non-conference action before a crowd of 101,915 fans Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.

Brandon finished the day connecting on 13-of-17 throws for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 68 yards and a pair of scores on just 10 attempts. Backup George MacIntyre relieved Brandon early in the third quarter, completing 5-of-7 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. All told, the two quarterbacks led a balanced Vols offense, which posted a 638-221 edge in total offense, which included a substantial 309-43 edge in passing yards.

Tennessee was led on the ground by De’Sean Bishop, who finished the season-opener with 97 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts. Mike Matthews was Brandon’s top target in the passing game for the Vols, as he finished with 132 yards on just four catches, including a pair of third quarter touchdowns that covered 56 and 57 yards, respectively. Xavier Gilliam led the Vols on defense, posting six tackles, five tackles-for-loss and three sacks.

Furman was led offensively by running back Isaiah Davis, who capped off his best day as a Paladin, rushing for 116 yards and his first-career Paladin touchdown on just eight attempts in the game. Like Tennessee’s Brandon, Furman’s Jake Garcia exited the game in the third quarter after connecting on 8-of-17 passes for 36 yards, but was sacked six times in the contest. Connor Ackerley went the remainder of the game under center, as he went 3-for-5 passing for seven yards. The Paladins took good care of the football against their SEC opposition, as Furman did not turn the ball over in the contest.

The Paladins played well defensively for about the first 1.5 quarters before the lack of offensive production from the Paladin offense, the Knoxville 90-degree heat, and the Vols offensive talent eventually wore down the unit. 

The Paladin defense was led by another outstanding performance from defensive end Eli Lipscomb, who posted six tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a sack. Buck Buchanan Award candidate Joshua Stoneking again drew heavy attention from the opposition, but managed to finish with two tackles, half-a-tackle-for-loss and forced one of two Tennessee fumbles on the afternoon. In his second-straight start, true freshman safety Braylon Peebles led the Paladins defense with nine tackles.

How It Happened:

Following a three-and out on Furman’s opening possession of the game, Tennessee drove the ball 60 yards in eight for the game’s opening touchdown, as the drive was capped off by a Faizon Brandon-to-Ethan Davis 17-yard scoring pass to make it 7-0 with 10:42 remaining in the opening quarter.

Furman’s second possession would yield one first down and nearly another, however, the Paladins were stopped on fourth-and-short at the Paladin 45, giving the Volunteers excellent field positing for their second drive, but Furman forced a turnover on downs of their own, as Brandon’s pass was incomplete on fourth-and-three, and the Paladins took over the football at their own 38. 

Furman’s defense used some big plays to keep it in the game for the remainder of the opening quarter, which included a sack by Eli Lipscomb on second-and-long late in the opening quarter, which forced a Tennessee punt. The Paladins would head to the second quarter trailing by just a touchdown.

Early in the second quarter the Vols would get on the scoreboard once again, as the Vols would use all running plays to score their second touchdown of the day and this time it was Brandon on a six-yard option keeper to make it 14-0 with 11:14 remaining in the half. It took Tennessee seven plays to cover 42 yards, taking three minutes off the clock.

The Paladins would reach the Tennessee 33 midway through the third quarter, using some razzle-dazzle plays on consecutive plays and a 15-yard late hit out of bounds on freshman wideout Jerrod Williams Jr. advance the ball just outside the red zone. However, Jake Garcia’s pass on 4th-and-3 was in the arms of Ethan Harris for a four-yard gain, but he couldn’t hold on to the ball, as the Paladins turned it over on downs for the second time in the game.

On Tennessee’s ensuing possession, the Vols converted a 4^th down and posted their third score of the half when De’Sean Bishop scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it a 21-0 with just over three minutes left in the half. The drive used 11 plays, covering 66 yards.

Late in the half, Tennessee added one more score take a 28-0 lead into the locker room, as Faizon Brandon ran it in for his second rushing score of the day on a seven-yard run to make it a 28-0 game with just 22 seconds remaining in the half, and that would be the score at the half. Faizon finished the first half completing 10-of-14 passes for 96 yards with a touchdown, while rushing for 68 yards and a pair of scores on 10 carries. All-SEC running back De’Sean Bishop matched his starting signal-caller with 68 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts in the opening 30 minutes of football. The Vols held a whopping 272-68 advantage in total offense in the opening half of play.

In the second half, it took Tennessee less than four minutes to score twice more, as Mike Matthews had scoring grabs of 56 and 57 yards, respectively, making it 42-0 Vols with 11:38. The Paladins would get on the board midway through the third quarter after Joshua Stoneking forced Vols star running back De’Sean Bishop to fumble and the ball was recovered by teammate Ryan Earl at the Tennessee 32. After one first down, however, a sack by Tennessee for a loss of seven yards forced the Paladins to eventually settle for a Nathan Champman 50-yard field goal with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter, making it a 42-3 game.

Tennessee made a quarterback change on its next possession, as George Macytire replaced Faizon and the Vols would get on the board once again, as TJ Keyes hauled in a 22-yard scoring pass in the corner of the end zone to make it a 49-3 game with 1:50 left in the third quarter. Furman made a change on their final possession of the third quarter, as Western New Mexico transfer Connor Ackerley replaced Jake Garcia under center. The Vols headed into the final quarter leading 49-3.

Early in the fourth quarter, Furman would find the end zone as Isaiah Davis scampered 23 yards for a touchdown with 13:13 remaining to make it a 40-point deficit after a botched PAT. The Paladins had a short field and were the beneficiaries of the Tennessee fumble of the second half, taking over at the Vols 26. The Paladins needed only three plays to cover the needed 26 yards for the score, with the final 23 coming from Davis. It marked the sophomore’s first-career scoring run. Tennessee would answer by getting to the end zone once more in the contest, as Justin Barker ripped off a 73-yard scoring run with 11:40 remaining to produce the final verdict.

Furman (1-1) returns to action next Saturday when it faces two-time defending SoCon champion No. 15/19 Mercer (2-0) in the first Southern Conference game of the season for both teams. The Bears have won 22 of their last 26 games at Five Star Stadium, including a 62-3 mauling of Presbyterian Saturday evening. The Paladins will look to avoid a third-straight loss to Mercer in the series, as the Bears have won the past two games against Furman by substantial margins, posting a 52-28 win in Greenville last season, while capping their first of two SoCon title runs with a 49-23 win at Five Star Stadium two years ago. Kickoff for Saturday’s contest between the Paladins and Bears is set for 6 p.m. at Five Star Stadium.