If you asked Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt two weeks ago who his starting quarterback would be when kickoff came against Alabama, there was little doubt that it would be anyone else than Jarrett Guarantano.
“Jarrett is our quarterback,” said Pruitt following the team’s 44-21 loss to Georgia where Guarantano struggled with turnovers. “He gives us the best opportunity to have success.”
Since then even more has changed for the Volunteers as the team was blown out by unranked Kentucky 34-7 where the quarterback saw even more struggles. Guarantano threw for just 88 yards and two interceptions before being relieved of his duties which now has a chance of happening against Alabama.
“He is going to have to go out here and earn it in practice like everybody else,” Pruitt said. “Am I wanting to put Jarrett Guarantano on the shelf? No, absolutely not. I think the guy has a lot of really good qualities about him. He has helped us win a lot of football games.”
Guarantano is a fifth-year senior and easily the most experienced player in the quarterback room. But it can not hide the fact that Tennessee’s offense which has scored a total of seven points in their past six quarters of football is in need of a jump start at that position.
Whether Guarantano is the man leading the offense on Saturday is unknown at this point, for he will be trying to hold off J.T. Shrout, Brian Maurer and Harrison Bailey.
Tennessee likes to hold scrimmages on Sunday nights in order to try and help catch up some of the younger players or those coming off of injury.
During his press conference, Pruitt shared that Bailey was someone who took all of the reps during the scrimmage along with Maurer. Although the majority of the reps went to the freshman Shrout is the next most experienced player and was one of the players who got the nod to enter the game against the Wildcats.
Having to compete for a job is nothing new to Guarantano who lost the job last season to both Maurer and Shrout, and this time he will need to come out on top in order to have an opportunity to finish his career at Tennesee off the right way.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
