Tennessee football: Five things to improve during bye week

By Caleb Calhoun | Oct 30, 2020

Tennessee players review plays on the sideline during the Alabama and Tennessee football game at Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.Tennessee Vs Alabama Football 100369 /

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Oct 17, 2020; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano (2) fumbles the ball and watches as its recovered by Kentucky during a SEC conference football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, October 17, 2020. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka-USA TODAY NETWORK

Oct 17, 2020; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano (2) fumbles the ball and watches as its recovered by Kentucky during a SEC conference football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, October 17, 2020. Mandatory Credit: Brianna Paciorka-USA TODAY NETWORK /

2. Limiting turnovers at quarterback

Yes, the pass protection has caused lots of these issues. However, nobody can deny that Tennessee football would be 3-2 right now with a close loss to the Georgia Bulldogs and a blowout loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide, nothing to be ashamed of, had it managed to take better care of the ball.

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Through the first two and a half games of the year, the Vols had no turnovers. Then, on their first two drives of the second half at the Georgia Bulldogs while up 21-17, Jarrett Guarantano fumbled and then threw an interception. That spotted UGA six points. He later had another fumble that the Dawgs returned the other way for a touchdown.

While he was under duress during all those plays, as a fifth-year senior, he should still be smarter about protecting the ball. Then came the Kentucky Wildcats. Guarantano had an unforced fumble while the Vols were in field goal range and threw two pick-sixes on back to back drives. J.T. Shrout came in and then threw another pick to set up a UK field goal.

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If you take away those turnovers, the Vols are within 10 points of the Dawgs, and they at worst would be within a touchdown of Kentucky with a very good chance of leading UK late. Jeremy Pruitt, Jim Chaney and Chris Weinke have to work with these guys to fix that, but it’s really on Guarantano, who does a lot of things right but has got to avoid those key mistakes.

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