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Tennessee football: Jarrett Guarantano is the key to Vols future

By Garrett Sanders

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 14: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball defended by D.J. Smith #24 of the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half at Neyland Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 14: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball defended by D.J. Smith #24 of the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half at Neyland Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football’s pro-style offense might not be exciting under Jeremy Pruitt and Tyson Helton. But Jarrett Guarantano is a positive for the Volunteers.

Do you remember in the preseason what people said about this 2018 Tennessee football team? Some said they would not win a single SEC game. Others were optimistic about the season. Personally, I knew what would happen. That is by this week they would be fighting for a bowl slot.

But there were a lot of things I didn’t expect to happen either. Jarrett Guarantano was the most surprising to me. I didn’t expect Guarantano to be named the starting quarterback by the start of the season. I had expected Keller Chryst to take command of this offense and play up to the hype he was given.

After all, it made sense that Chryst would be named the starter given his background being in a Pro-Style offense. Guarantano didn’t seem to be the right choice at quarterback given Jeremy Pruitt’s and Tyson Helton’soffensive scheme. Nevertheless, I was flat out wrong.

Despite Guarantano being a dual-threat type of quarterback, he proved that he could run a Pro-Style offense. He didn’t look great to start the year. But most of that to blame was on the offensive line. As time progressed throughout the season, Guarantano showed me he could lead this team to go bowling.

Guarantano showed flashes of what could be to come for next season. An intriguing stat that excites me for the future for Guarantano and the Tennessee football program is the turnover margin. Guarantano rarely makes mistakes. His current streak of 148 consecutive passes without an interception is a school record that belongs to solely Guarantano.

I get it, he’s not the most exciting player in the country. He’s only thrown over 200+ yards in just two out of the 11 games this season. But let’s face it, a Pro-Style offensive scheme is not an exciting offensive scheme to watch week in week out. The objective of a Pro-Style offensive scheme is to game manage, play ball control, and limit the turnovers.

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If you’re basing it off what a Pro-Style offensive scheme is supposed to be, Guarantano has exceeded expectations this season. This is something Tennessee fans can look forward to in 2019: a quarterback who consistently gets the job done and wins ball games. The fact is, if it works and produces wins, you won’t see anybody complaining, primarily when the team rallies around him.

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