Tennessee’s quarterback situation has been one of the hottest topics of conversation surrounding UT football in the 2019 season. Redshirt junior Jarrett Guarantano hasn’t played up to his potential, and his starting job has come into question. Head coach Jeremy Pruitt pulled Guarantano at halftime of the Florida game in favor of true freshman Brian Maurer, and the freshman led Tennessee to their only points of the game on his first drive.
Eventually, Pruitt turned back to Guarantano after Maurer proved ineffective after that initial drive. But that move sparked plenty of debate after the game and all throughout Tennessee’s bye week last week.
Earlier this week during his weekly Monday press conference, Pruitt didn’t give any details about UT’s plans at quarterback ahead of Saturday’s contest against No. 3 Georgia.
“We’re not going to give Georgia a scouting report of what we’re going to do this week,” Pruitt said on Monday. “So we’re going to rep the guys that we feel like gives us the best opportunity to have success.”
Fast forward to Wednesday night, and Pruitt had a little more to say about Tennessee’s quarterbacks.
During the “Vol Calls” radio call-in show on Wednesday night, Pruitt was asked by a caller about how all three of Tennessee’s scholarship quarterbacks have looked during practices over the last week. Guarantano, Maurer, and redshirt freshman JT Shrout have all been battling and getting a similar number of reps in practice since the bye week. And according to Pruitt, there’s a chance all three quarterbacks see the field against Georgia.
“I think all three of the guys have worked hard in the last 10 days, just in preparation for this game,” Pruitt said during Vol Calls. “All three guys have a different skill set, and there’s a chance we could play all three guys. They’ve worked hard. They’re like everybody else in our program; they’re hungry for success, and they have kind of a ‘Coach me, Coach,’ attitude.”
Pruitt’s quotes are likely nothing more than some gamesmanship to make Georgia prepare for the possibility of anything happening, but the idea of playing all three quarterbacks on Saturday is an interesting one. Tennessee did that once this season already, but it was during their blowout victory over UT-Chattanooga. In that game, Guarantano started, but Maurer came in for the third offensive series of the game, which was planned before the game even started. At that point in the contest, Tennessee already had a multi-touchdown lead, and it marked Maurer’s first action of his UT career.
Later in the game, Shrout also took the field for the first time as a Vol, running the offense for a few series in the second half.
On the season, Guarantano has completed 64.5 percent of his 93 pass attempts for 736 yards, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions. Maurer has completed four of his 13 passes for 44 yards and an interception while also running for 17 yards and a score on seven carries. Shrout completed 3-of-9 passes for 23 yards in his lone appearance this year.
Only time will tell if Tennessee ends up playing all three quarterbacks on Saturday against Georgia. Odds say they won’t. But the Vols are in desperate need of good quarterback play, and Pruitt and his staff need to figure out who can give them the best chance to win here over the next few games. Tennessee likely isn’t beating Georgia or Alabama, but games against Mississippi State, South Carolina, UAB, Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt are all winnable if Tennessee can get competent performances from their quarterback.
Maybe the Vols will run a platoon system at QB on Saturday, or maybe only one quarterback plays. Whatever happens, it’ll surely bring a lot of debate and conversation following the game.
