Tennessee’s offense exploded on Saturday during the Vols’ 24-20 victory over Missouri, and two of UT’s offensive players were rewarded for their play with SEC Player of the Week honors on Monday.
Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and offensive lineman Trey Smith both earned SEC Player of the Week awards on Monday. Guarantano was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week while Smith was named the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
Guarantano had a career day against a normally stout Missouri defense on Saturday. The redshirt junior threw for 415 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee’s 24-20 win, marking the most yards by a UT quarterback in a game since Tyler Bray threw for 530 yards against Troy in 2012. Guarantano became only the third quarterback in program history to throw for over 400 yards in a game, joining Bray and Peyton Manning as the only Vols to do it.
The 415 yards through the air by Guarantano are the fourth-most in a single game in school history. Guarantano spread the wealth around, too. Three different Vol receivers totaled 100 receiving yards on Saturday, marking the first time in program history that UT has had three receivers go over 100 yards in the same game. Josh Palmer, Jauan Jennings, and Marquez Callaway all eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark against the Tigers.
Saturday marked Guarantano’s first start in two months. The fourth-year junior had come off the bench in Tennessee’s previous six games, but he earned the start against Missouri on Saturday. That was Guarantano’s first start since Tennessee’s road trip to play Florida.
As for Smith, he was a big reason the Vols had some success running the ball at times and why Guarantano had plenty of time to throw downfield.
The junior lineman graded out as the top offensive lineman for the Vols on Saturday and totaled six knockdowns. Smith was pivotal in Tennessee’s offense totaling 526 yards, the largest total of the Jeremy Pruitt era and the most offensive yards in a game for UT since 2016.
Tennessee has now had at least one player earn an SEC Player of the Week award for four-straight games.
