After Tennessee football’s 24-20 win over the Mizzou Tigers, Volunteers quarterback Jarrett Guarantano couldn’t hold back his emotions in the postgame.
He was the biggest scapegoat after Tennessee football started the season 0-2 with two losses at home to Group of Five schools. Then he was pulled after the Vols fell to 1-3. And he was publicly humiliated after Jeremy Pruitt was seen lashing out at him on national television for his critical mistake, the goal-line fumble, at the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Through it all, though, Jarrett Guarantano kept fighting. And after finally earning his starting job back against the Missouri Tigers, all he did was throw for 415 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions en route to winning 24-20 and clinching bowl eligibility for the Vols.
Very few people have had a better comeback story in Tennessee football history. Guarantano couldn’t hide his emotions in postgame interviews with different people. Here is a look at a couple of them, when he got choked up speaking to reporters.
Tennessee QB, Jarrett Guarantano after leading them to a win over Missouri & clinching a bowl berth.
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) November 24, 2019
You can tell how much that meant to him. @SECNetwork #Vols pic.twitter.com/h9AMp94X2H
It’s hard not to feel good for Guarantano. His lowest point was after the loss to the Florida Gators. But even as he was coming out of his lowest point, it was a rocky road for him to get to where he is now.
A week before that mistake at Alabama, he came off the bench to secure the victory against the Mississippi State Bulldogs with a touchdown pass. After Alabama, he threw two touchdown passes, both go-ahead TDs to Jauan Jennings and the second one putting them ahead for good, against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
But Guarantano got hurt against South Carolina. Then he had an interception near halftime against the UAB Blazers that had Pruitt once again coming down on him. So at the Kentucky Wildcats, Brian Maurer once again started ahead of him.
It took Guarantano coming off the bench to lead the Vols back from a 13-3 halftime deficit to beat the Kentucky Wildcats on the road with two second-half touchdowns to win 17-13. Finally, coming off the bye, Guarantano earned his starting job back. But Pruitt said he hadn’t decided on that early in the week, and he didn’t even publicize it after announcing it.
So it was a cautious endorsement of the redshirt junior, and we would have to see how he could handle winning his job back. And he aced it at Mizzou. As a result, this guy has clearly earned his job back, and right now he looks like the best quarterback in the East. Everybody on Rocky Top was feeling the emotion for him that he felt after this win.