The 2019 season hasn’t exactly gone according to plan for Jarrett Guarantano.
After showing signs of promise against Auburn, Kentucky, and South Carolina in 2018, Guarantano was supposed to take the next step under his fourth offensive coordinator in four years — Jim Chaney. The redshirt junior has always had a big arm, he’s always been tough as nails, and he had taken care of the football at an exceptional level in his UT career prior to the 2019 season.
A different Guarantano showed up to start this season, though.
The Vols’ starting quarterback showed serious signs of regression over the first four games, throwing four interceptions in four games after throwing just three interceptions in 12 games a season ago. Not only was he committing turnovers at an unexpected rate, but he was missing wide open receivers in the process.
As a result, the redshirt junior lost his starting job. Heading into Saturday’s match-up with No. 3 Georgia, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt elected to roll with true freshman Brian Maurer as the starter.
“I think Jarrett had probably been pressing a little bit,” Pruitt said when asked about the decision to start Maurer following Tennessee’s 43-14 loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday night. “I said before, we were going to play Jarrett tonight, and Brian got off to a fast start. So we kept him in there.”
Maurer promptly threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter-plus of the game, sparking a Vol offense that had struggled against FBS competition this season. The first score was a 73-yard pass to Marquez Callaway, and the other was a 12-yard strike to Jauan Jennings. Following the two touchdown passes from Maurer, Tennessee led the third-ranked team in the country 14-10. At halftime, the Vols only trailed by two scores, 26-14.
Despite losing his job and Maurer shining in the moment, Guarantano never lost sight of the bigger picture.
“I could hear Jarrett hollering out on the sideline,” Pruitt explained. “‘Watch that, watch this, watch that,’ trying to help him (Maurer). Jarrett is a team guy, okay?
“Jarrett has busted his tail. I said today that he’s had lots of really good practices. I kind of put it like a basketball shooter. If you go cold, you kind of get in charge of yourself, sit down and watch it, come back out there. He comes in there, makes a great throw over the middle, you know?”
Though Maurer flashed signs of hope and potential, he was still beat up quite a bit. After taking a big hit near the sideline, Guarantano had to come in for the freshman. Guarantano immediately fired a 14-yard completion to Dominick Wood-Anderson over the middle of the field.
“I thought Jarrett made some good throws while he was in there, did a nice job coaching Brian while he was in. (That’s) what a true leader does,” Pruitt said. “When Brian came out, Jarrett makes a great throw right over the middle there to extend the drive.”
Guarantano’s readiness prevented Pruitt from naming Maurer the starter moving forward despite the plays the true freshman was able to generate. Pruitt wants to watch the film from Saturday’s game before he deems anybody the starter against Mississippi State next Saturday in Neyland Stadium.
More importantly, in the eyes of Tennessee’s head coach, the way Maurer competed and the way Guarantano performed when he was in the game is good for the football team moving forward.
“Jarrett is a guy that will help us win football games down the road,” Pruitt said. “I guarantee you that, by his attitude and his work ethic.”
