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Tennessee football: 10 best 2018 single game performances by returning Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Darrell Taylor #19 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets a strip sack from Terry Wilson #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Darrell Taylor #19 of the Tennessee Volunteers gets a strip sack from Terry Wilson #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half of the game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-7. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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4. Jarrett Guarantano at Auburn

Stat line: 21-of-32, 328 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions

Result: Tennessee wins 30-24

Of all the performances in Tennessee football’s win against the Auburn Tigers, nobody’s stood out more than Jarrett Guarantano’s. This game truly was his coming out party and showed the value he can provide at quarterback.

To this point, Guarantano had proven nothing. He didn’t win any games as a starter en route to the worst season ever in 2017. Meanwhile, the Vols had begun the 2018 season 2-3 with him as a starter. Even with the high efficiency, it was clear that Jeremy Pruitt was keeping way too much of a harness on Guarantano.

But in this game, he finally turned Guarantano loose. That involved incorporating Ty Chandler and Tim Jordan in the passing game, but it also involved deep passes to the big receivers. In the process, Josh Palmer, Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings all went over 50 yards receiving. Chandler obviously did as well.

Guarantano showed his clutch gene on that third quarter drive to take the lead. He converted four third-down attempts on that drive, including the touchdown pass to Jennings. And he finished the game with over 300 yards passing and two touchdowns to no interceptions while completing over 65 percent of his passes.

Doing that on the road against a solid SEC defense was very impressive. It showed just what Guarantano can be when you turn him loose and let him go deep. He took a lot of hits all game while making the throws but remain poised, and that allows his performance to be high on this list.

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