Tennessee football Smokey Points: Top five Vols in 43-14 Georgia loss

Of course he was going to be on this list. Brian Maurer gave Tennessee football a necessary spark at quarterback that they just hadn’t seen with Jarrett Guarantano. A mobile gunslinger who has a ton of zip on the ball over the middle, Maurer immediately energized Neyland Stadium Saturday night with his play.

Down 7-0, Maurer thew a 73-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Callaway. After the Vols gave up a field goal on the next drive, he then led them down the field and hit Jauan Jennings on a very crisp pass into double-coverage for another touchdown to go up 14-10. UT got into Georgia Bulldogs territory two more times on the day.

For the game, Maurer completed 14-of-28 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. That was an average of over nine yards an attempt. However, he is only No. 4 on this list because of a few mistakes. He only had four passing yards in the third quarter allowing UGA to pull away. Also, he came out at one point, and after Guarantano got one first down, he came in and threw a pick.

That was with UT down 29-14 and still in it. Him being strip-sacked on a fumble-return TD in the fourth was another killer. So Maurer made some serious mistakes. But he still belongs on this list, as he made lots of bit plays. His lack of hesitation with his arm will be a great thing going forward.