In-Depth Final Thoughts from Vols’ Loss to West Virginia

Quarterback

Photo by Anne Newman/RTI

Here’s what I charted for Jarrett Guarantano during the game:

Good throws: 16 throws

Bad throws: 7 throws

Throws completed for a first down: 9 throws

Took a deep-shot downfield: two throws

In shotgun: 45 snaps

Under Center: 13 snaps

Dumped off to the running back: 5 times

Found the tight end: Just once

Had good protection: 27 times

Play-action: 14 plays

I was very impressed by Guarantano’s play on Saturday. The redshirt sophomore finished the day 19-for-25, a touchdown, and 172 yards through the air. Guarantano averaged 9.1 yards per completion, and he showed a ton of improvement in his first outing under the new regime. He was composed despite taking several big hits, showed zip on his throws, and went through his progressions well and didn’t make any questionable throws into heavy coverage.

During the first half, I thought offensive coordinator Tyson Helton should have utilized Guarantano’s arm more. With the interior of the offensive line struggling to run block, Guarantano had already shown his ability to make throws in high-pressure situations with completions to Marquez Callaway, Jauan Jennings, Josh Palmer, and Brandon Johnson on different third down situations. From a West Virginia perspective, I was surprised that defensive coordinator Tony Gibson didn’t call more blitzes considering Tennessee was struggling to block in the running game. The Vols did a great job of keeping the Mountaineer defense off-balance by attacking them with several different angles.

I saw West Virginia blitz 31 different times. Here’s a breakdown of how many they brought on the blitz. Both sacks allowed by Tennessee came on a four-man rush.

Four-man rush: 14

Five-man rush: 11

Six-man rush: 3

Seven-man rush: 3

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