Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers will be wrapping up their spring practice with the Orange and White game. However, while they have prepared the players and the stadium for the fans, they have chosen to shut a door that may cause an outburst among their fans.
“There will be no live television broadcast,” the Tennessee Volunteers announced on the club’s official website. “Vol Network will carry scrimmage action and feature interviews with various guests across all radio affiliates, the Tennessee Athletics app and UTsports.com.”
See you this Saturday!
Orange & White Game
April 11
2:00pm ET
Neyland Stadium
Free Admission
Details → https://t.co/M48ywRCVeu#GBO
pic.twitter.com/63467ECbmZ
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) April 6, 2026
The program’s Orange and White game is an annual tradition that dates back to 1928. With the game, the Vols bring their spring football practices to a conclusion. It is an open-practice exhibition game held at Neyland Stadium for fans to see new players and recruits before the fall season. During the spring scrimmage, the offense, with their white jerseys, usually faces the defense, who all show up donning their orange jerseys.
This time, the Vols decided not to televise the game after the SEC Network stopped requiring spring games to be televised. Instead, the program is opting for a radio broadcast on the Vol Network and a 30-minute all-access show from the spring game, which would air on the SEC Network throughout the summer.
However, rather than burst into outrage, Vols fans may rethink how college football teams handle spring games. There have been recent cancellations and other cases in which programs do not want to expose their players to other admirers during the spring game.
Sadly, these games with rich history and huge fan support are gradually losing relevance, thanks to teams placing greater emphasis on roster turnover, injury prevention, stadium construction, and the rise of the transfer portal.
Considering the growing disinclination towards spring games, Tennessee fans should be grateful that despite stadium construction, the program opened its 101,915 capacity stadium to 45,000 fans – a massive improvement from the 2024 spring game, where only 10,000 fans were permitted.
While the Vols make their way to the pitch on April 12 at 2:00 pm, a particular group of players will be under the spotlight. Beyond them wearing non-contact jerseys that are neither orange nor white, the quarterback position remains the most uncertain position on the Volunteers’ team.
Volunteers’ QB1 mystery
Joey Aguilar seemed to have earned himself another year as the Vols’ starting quarterback after a brilliant season; however, a judge denied his request for another year of eligibility. Furthermore, Aguilar’s backup, Jake Merklinger, transferred to the UConn Huskies, making MacIntyre the only QB left from the previous year. And with the battle now left to Ryan Staub, Faizon Brandon, and George MacIntyre, Heupel has made the QB1 spot open to the trio.
“It is open. We had that conversation with all of them as we started winter and they all arrived here,” Heupel said concerning the starting QB role in his media interview after Day 1 of spring practice. “We had that conversation again as we wrapped up winter and got into spring ball. Don’t expect a guy (starting quarterback) to be named here during the course of the spring ball.”
Faizon Brandon is a five-star freshman who has impressed in spring practice as well. On the other hand, Ryan Staub is a Colorado transfer who has spent three seasons with the Colorado Buffaloes. Lastly, MacIntyre is a redshirt freshman who understands Heupel’s demands better than the others. Heupel has been discreet regarding who is likely to start among the three, but so far, based on his previous comments, the spot remains available.
