Tennessee football: Five Vols to watch for vs. Chattanooga Mocs

LEXINGTON, KY - OCTOBER 28: Daniel Bituli #35 and Nigel Warrior #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate a recovered fumble against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - OCTOBER 28: Daniel Bituli #35 and Nigel Warrior #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrate a recovered fumble against the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Tennessee football
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images

Jarrett Guarantano has never felt as much heat as he’s feeling this week. For the second straight week, he missed a lot of reads and was far too slow to get rid of the ball at times. And in this case, it resulted in an interception and cost him a touchdown pass.

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The only reason Guarantano didn’t have no touchdowns and two interceptions is because Jauan Jennings bailed him out. Anyway, Tennessee football needs him to dramatically improve his decision-making, and he needs to do it quickly.

Given the way he has played so far, the Chattanooga Mocs could easily give the Vols trouble. They need Guarantano to be able to put this game out of reach early. If not, the growing chorus of people who want him benched will only get louder.

We saw evidence last year of Guarantano being able to make big plays in big moments. There’s no reason to believe he can’t be that quarterback again. Maybe a big game against Chattanooga will be enough for him to get his confidence up. Right now, he’s not aggressive enough at times, and when he is decisive, he too often makes the wrong decision.

Chattanooga is the perfect game for him to try to get back on track. Perhaps he’s still just getting used to Jim Chaney’s offense. It is somewhat different from what Tyson Helton ran. Well, this weekend, he could develop more in it. And Tennessee football needs him to use his weapons to put this game away early.