Faizon Brandon passing record and more Tennessee football predictions for 2026

Quarterback Faizon Brandon will break Tennessee's true freshman passing record and keep the Vols in the playoff race past Halloween.

Those are two of the bold predictions for this season, which begins when 18th-ranked Tennessee plays Furman on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+/SEC Network+) at Neyland Stadium.

Here are those predictions and more for the 2026 Vols.

Faizon Brandon will break Tyler Bray record, but not Nico Iamaleava

Tyler Bray was the most prolific passer among true freshmen in UT history. He passed for 1,849 yards in 2010, but most of that was done in Bray’s five starts to finish that season.

Brandon, however, will start the opener. If he keeps the job and stays healthy, he’ll have a full season to surpass that total. And considering all five of Heupel’s starting quarterbacks passed for at least 2,600 yards, Brandon is a safe bet to top Bray’s total.

But Nico Iamaleava holds the UT freshman record with 2,616 yards in 2024, but he was a redshirt freshman. Brandon would have to average at least 202 yards passing in 13 games to surpass that mark.

So the prediction is that Brandon will zoom past Bray’s true freshman record but fall short of Iamaleava’s mark.

DeSean Bishop will score second-most TDs in UT history

DeSean Bishop, the former Karns standout, enters the 2026 season with 19 rushing TDs over two seasons. Gene McEver holds the UT career record with 37 rushing TDs from 1928-31 en route to the College Football Hall of Fame. Dylan Sampson and James “Little Man” Stewart are tied for second with 35 rushing TDs.

Bishop is a clutch runner in the red zone, and he’ll carry the ball behind an experienced offensive line.

The prediction is that Bishop will climb to second place on the UT career list and trail only McEver. He would need to score at least 16 rushing TDs to reach second place in the career rankings. That would tie his single-season high from 2025.

Tennessee will be in playoff mix in November

Many teams in power conferences see a path to the College Football Playoff early in the season. But most are derailed by October.

Tennessee isn’t a popular pick to make the playoff, especially because it starts a freshman quarterback against a challenging schedule. And that’s not the prediction here.

Instead, the prediction is that the Vols will still be in the mix in November. They could only lose two games or fewer for that to be reality – perhaps touting a 7-2 record after the Kentucky game on Nov. 7.

If that happens, back-to-back games against Texas A&M (Nov. 14) and LSU (No. 21) would put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. But getting to that point would be a notable feat.

Vols defense will make SEC’s biggest turnaround in this stat

Stop rate measures the percentage of drives that a defense stops the opposing offense by means of punt, turnover or turnover on downs.

UT struggled mightily in that category last season, ranking 97th nationally at 57%. It was also 15th among 16 SEC teams. Only Arkansas was worse (44.8%). By comparison, Texas Tech led the nation in stop rate at 83.5%.

New defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has been among the best coaches in stop rate over the past decade. His Ohio State led the nation in 2024.

The prediction is that UT will make the biggest jump in stop rate in 2026, perhaps climbing into the top 5 in the league.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Faizon Brandon passing record and more Tennessee football predictions for 2026