Quarterback George MacIntyre, who started the season as Tennessee football's backup, is now 2-0 as the starter after piloting the Vols to a 26-10 upset of Alabama on Oct. 17 at Neyland Stadium.
MacIntyre, a Nashville native from a family of Vols fans, rode the waves of emotions that come in a rivalry as charged as the Third Saturday in October and helped deliver UT's biggest win of the season so far.
“It was a dream come true," MacIntyre said. "Just being out there, the gratitude I have to be a Vol and play against Bama. Growing up, I always circle this date on the calendar. Wake up early, watch 'GameDay' all day and then turn on the Tennessee-Alabama game. Just glad we could come out and get a win for our fans and our state.”
MacIntyre was more efficient than explosive as the No. 14 Vols (6-1, 3-1 SEC) beat No. 7 Alabama (5-2, 3-2). He finished 21-of-31 passing for 197 yards, an interception and no touchdowns.
Alabama counted on a green quarterback making mistakes and against its opportunistic secondary. The Tide wanted to force the Vols to score at the end of long drives and rattle MacIntyre when he made mistakes.
But MacIntyre wasn't shaken by an early interception or stalled drives in the red zone.
“Played winning football," Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. "I thought he was decisive going to the right spots on the football field. ... I thought he saw it extremely well and was composed and went and made the next play.”
MacIntyre threw the ball 23 times in the first half with little success. The Vols were averaging 4.1 yards per play and didn't turn any of their three red zone drives into touchdowns. .
Holding a narrow 12-10 lead at halftime, Tennessee was allowing Alabama to hang around in a game that it could have led by multiple touchdowns.
"In the first half, ultimately not as effective as we need to be. That’s not converting on some of the passes, some third downs. It’s not being able to convert," Heupel said. "You just couldn’t come up empty handed in those situations. ... You kick field goals like that, usually it comes back to bite you."
But the offensive strategy turned in the second half. MacIntyre and the Vols leaned on DeSean Bishop's power running and it helped open up passing lanes for MacIntyre, who completed all eight of his passes for 78 yards after halftime.
Over the final 30 minutes of game time, Tennessee averaged 5.7 yards per play, outscored Alabama 14-0 and shut the door on any hopes of a comeback with two touchdown drives of 4:41 and 9:32.
"I felt like their game plan was just to keep having to snap it again, snap it again and make us sustain drives. That’s what we did," MacIntyre said. "We stopped shooting ourselves in the foot … and we were able to pull through in the second half.”
Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Josh Heupel said about George MacIntyre after Tennessee football win vs Alabama