Jarrett Guarantano will not be Tennessee football’s starting quarterback against the UGA Bulldogs. Brian Maurer will face the Dawgs for the Volunteers.
A change has been made. After 16 games of unwavering loyalty from Jeremy Pruitt, 18 straight starts and 22 starts in the Vols’ last 23 games, Jarrett Guarantano will not start for Tennessee football against the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday night. That job is now going to Brian Maurer.
Chris Low of ESPN reported the switch Friday evening. Maurer saw action for the Vols against the Florida Gators, as he started the second half and directed their only scoring drive of the game in a 34-3 loss on the road. The 6’3″ 193-pound true freshman from Ocala, Fla. also played against the Chattanooga Mocs and had a touchdown run.
Maurer takes over as the starter after Tennessee football went 1-3 under Guarantano and lost two games to Group of Five schools. Guarantano is completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 736 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions on the year. He is averaging just under eight yards an attempt.
While those numbers are solid, Guarantano has received scrutiny for some of his decisions. That includes an interception into triple-coverage agianst the BYU Cougars and missing Dominick Wood-Anderson for an easy touchdown against Florida before throwing a horrible interception the next play.
As a result, Maurer got the nod over J.T. Shrout, who showed solid decision-making in the only game he played against Chattanooga but struggles with the right power and accuracy on hi throws. Shrout, a 6’3″ 213-pound redshirt freshman from Santa Clarita, Calif., has completed three of nine passes on the year for 23 yards.
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Georgia may not be the ideal game, though for a guy like Maurer to get his first start. Not only have the Dawgs been dominant all year, but Maurer has struggled more than any of the quarterbacks in throwing the ball.
For the year, Maurer has completed four of 13 passes for 44 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. His selling point is his mobility, as he does have seven carries for 17 yards and a touchdown. But will that be effective against Kirby Smart?
Well, if these reports are true, it’s irrelevant. Pruitt did say earlier in the week that he did not want to give Georgia a scouting report on what he plans to do. So maybe he and Jim Chaney have a few tricks up their sleeves by putting Maurer in the game.
At the same time, Pruitt hinted that all three quarterbacks could play. So maybe this means very little, and Guarantano and Shrout will see lots of action as well. We have no way of knowing how this all will play out Saturday night. But what’s clear is that Tennessee football’s challenge against Georgia just got even more challenging.