Quarterback
Nathanael: A
I thought overall that Jarrett Guarantano, once again, had a very good day. He made a couple errant throws that could’ve gone for some big gains, but all in all he made the correct decisions and was very efficient. He even tucked it and ran a few times today and showed more burst than I’ve seen from him in his entire Tennessee career. Guarantano was 12-of-16 for 168 yards and a touchdown, and he’s still yet to have a turnover in three games so far.
Ben: B+
The quarterback room/Jarrett Guarantano receives a B+ from me because for a third straight game the sophomore didn’t turn the football over, but there weren’t enough big time plays to warrant an A. Granted, Guarantano is more than capable of creating explosive plays. The staff just isn’t asking him to do much. As a result he threw for less than 200 yards for a third straight game. Guarantano continues to impress, though, delivering a beautiful deep ball to Josh Palmer this afternoon. He also continues to show great composure and command of the offense.
For Keller Chryst, I’ll stick up for him a little bit. Guarantano is undoubtedly the starter, but it’s far too early to have a feel for how Chryst would serve as a backup. Following the game on Saturday, many were questioning the grad transfer’s ability. It’s too early to tell how Chryst would fare as he hasn’t been asked to do much. All he does when he comes in is hand the football off. That’s not a canvas of work that can be judged on.
