For the second year in a row, eyes were stuck on the passers for Tennessee football’s annual Orange & White game.

While the drama did not include a quarterback being absent on the day of the game this time, it did include a true three-man battle on display — where each continued to prove their value as spring practice wraps up.

George MacIntyre, the only returning signal-caller, handled what could be considered first-team reps with the starters. Faizon Brandon, the Vols’ five-star true freshman talent, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub handled the remainder of the drives.

The three quarterbacks guided Tennessee to 385 yards of offense with four drives that ended in scores.

“I do love the growth from that group,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “I love the way that they competed with themselves, with each other. I love the way that they’ve grown every single day. Each of them maybe had a day where it was a little bit below what they had shown and their expectations, too. They responded and came back the next day and were a lot better. So, there’s a lot of positives, a lot of things that they and we have to work on as a football team.”

Tennessee handled different periods on Saturday, opening with a 7-on-7 drill before eventually getting into a live-action scrimmage that featured 15 total drives. Here’s how the trio of passers performed, with unofficial stats tracked by The Daily Beacon.

MacIntyre

The leading candidate for the job — solely based on experience in the system — finished the live-action period 15-for-22 for 122 yards and no scores. He manned the offense for four drives and manufactured one scoring drive, in a two-minute drill, that ended in a 37-yard Josh Turbyville kick to send the scrimmage to halftime.

MacIntyre lived off passes near the line of scrimmage. His longest completion of the day was a sideline toe-tap by transfer tight end Trent Thomas. It was one of three passes that went for more than 10 yards on the day.

He was marked for one sack and rushed the ball twice for 14 yards.

“I feel a good bit more comfortable,” MacIntyre said. “I think a lot of that growth happened between practice one and practice 15, not necessarily between now and last year. Just a lot more comfortable and a lot more clear visions, operationally, getting in the playbook and once you have 15 days stacked on top of each other everything felt really clear.”

Brandon

The talented freshman struggled, oftentimes holding onto the ball too long. Brandon went 6-for-16 for 36 yards and did not lead a scoring drive. He carried the ball four times for 25 yards, but was sacked twice for a loss of 16 yards.

Brandon led six drives and guided two scoring drives to finish it out. Javin Gordon burst through a defender to score a 61-yard touchdown. Then, he moved the offense into field goal range for Cooper Ranvier to drill a 47-yarder to finish in a 10-10 tie.

His most significant play was a 17-yard scramble on the 11th drive of the game, but three straight negative plays beforehand prevented it from being a first down, and the drive stalled.

Brandon struggled, however, fitting the ball in downfield. He took multiple deep shots, and none came within reaching distance of the receivers.

“I would say it was tight coverage and I think I could have gave my guys more of a shot but I think it was a mix of those two — me giving my guys more of a shot and the night coverage that was there,” Brandon said.

Staub

Tennessee’s lone quarterback with experience starting a collegiate game proved to be the most impressive statistically. Staub went 7-for-13 for 130 yards and a touchdown — launching a 72-yard score to a wide-open Carson Whitehead down the sideline on the first drive of the game.

“Got the right reads,” Staub said. “We were three-by-one, the safety to the boundary, played to the field, and we got the vertical up the sideline and so it’s a good way to get on the board early. That was fun.”

Staub also had an issue with holding onto the ball too long, taking three sacks for the day. He also missed another touchdown pass to Whitehead on a deep ball.

The experienced signal-caller did show the most promise on intermediate throws. He fired in completions of 13, 14 and 20 yards to go along with his 72-yard score.

If the spring game is any signifier, it is that Heupel and company will need fall training camp before a starter is named.