Tennessee Vols morning report: Jarrett Guarantano, Trey Smith earn SEC honors
Jarrett Guarantano and Trey Smith representing the Tennessee Vols by earning SEC honors headlines our Volunteers news for Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019.
The aftermath of the Tennessee Vols’ huge win over the Missouri Tigers this past weekend to get to 6-5 continues, as respect from outside UT is pouring in. And that’s a major story for us to kick off today.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with two players earning conference honors coming off that win, and they are two players who are becoming beloved by Vol Nation despite one of them being maligned earlier in the year. Individual recognition is not our only story today, though.
We also have coverage of all three major coaches speaking. The postgame from a basketball win, the preview of a women’s basketball game and the kickoff of the final week of the football regular season are all part of that. Let’s start things off, though, with the individual honors.
Jarrett Guarantano, Trey Smith earn weekly SEC honors – SECSports.com
Love is pouring in for the Tennessee Vols football offense after their 24-20 win at the Missouri Tigers this past weekend. Jarrett Guarantano was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, and Trey Smith was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.
"Guaranto spread the ball around equally as Tennessee had three different receivers eclipse 100 yards for the first time in school history.…Smith was dominant against one of the nation’s best defenses. Missouri entered the game allowing only 297.6 total yards (10th in the nation) and had the SEC’s best pass defense, allowing only 165.9 yards through the air per game (sixth in the nation)."
Jeremy Pruitt kicks off Vanderbilt week – Ryan Callahan, GoVols247
Coming off Tennessee football’s win at Mizzou, Jeremy Pruitt met with the media Monday to preview the final week of the regular season for UT. He said he is proud of this senior class and also said that the death threats to Guarantano will be something worth looking into. Here’s a bit of what else he said.
"“You talk about the Mississippi State (game), you talk about Kentucky, this past week against Missouri — that’s three games there that the game was probably decided on the last drive with both groups, offense and defense. In probably all three games, there was points in the game that we could’ve played better. But when it mattered the most, we played at our best.”"
Rick Barnes, players recap win over Chattanooga – Rocky Top Insider
Ahead of their trip to Florida for the final rounds of the Emerald Coast Classic, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team had an ugly 58-46 win over the Chattanooga Mocs. Rick Barnes, Lamonte Turner and Jordan Bowden all addressed the game. Here’s a bit of what Barnes said.
"“Defensively, I don’t think we played the way we felt like we could early on. And offensively, we weren’t very efficient. I mean, Jordan Bowden missed two wide open layups. Olivier had a dunk, but Josiah threw the ball too hard. And then free throws, not a great job there. We weren’t very good on offense. Defensively, we did some good things, but we have to get better offensively.”"
Kellie Harper previews Arkansas Pine-Bluff – UTSports
Now ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll at 5-0, the Tennessee women’s basketball team is back in action Tuesday night a week after their last game, which was a 73-46 win over the Stetson Hatters. They will host the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, who are 0-3, at 7 p.m. This is their third game in a six-game home stand. Here is a bit of what Kellie Harper said Monday ahead of the matchup.
"“I think we saw improvement from our Tennessee State game to our Stetson game. I would like to see another step. Maybe with our defensive execution, also with our offensive execution. We are going to open it up a little bit and do a few more things that will challenge our players with their communication with each other and on the bench and how we are attacking.”"