Tennessee football Smokey points: Top five Vols in 17-13 Kentucky win

We talked about Marquez Callaway, but Jauan Jennings still had 49 yards receiving, and Josh Palmer added 55 yards and a touchdown. Dominick Wood-Anderson should have had a touchdown as well. There was one constant behind all of this. That constant was the much-maligned quarterback, Jarrett Guarantano.

For the fifth straight game, Guarantano came in after not starting. And for the fourth time in those five games, he delivered a victory for Tennessee football. Guarantano was seven-of-eight for 115 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. But he also made key plays on the ground for Rocky Top as well.

Remember, Guarantano ran for a first down on 3rd and 11 during the Vols’ first touchdown drive. He then had the key third down run to secure the game. Simply put, he was there to make a play whenever he was needed in only a half of football, and he deserves a ton of praise. The one time Jim Chaney took the ball out of his hands, the Vols turned the ball over.

This guy came in with the Vols down 13-3. And Kentucky is not a team built to blow leads. So lots of things were against him on the road. Add in all the criticism Guarantano has received this year and the lack of trust the coaches have recently shown in him, and there is no way to overstate how big of a deal his play was.