Tennessee football: Top five Vols performers in 42-17 win at Vanderbilt
Quarterback. Redshirt sophomore. player. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. J.T. Shrout. 4
6-of-13 for 90 yards; 2 TDs; 1 INT
Last week, we gave Harrison Bailey a spot on here despite J.T. Shrout having better stats. That’s because Shrout’s stats came largely in garbage time, and we had to value what Bailey did against the Florida Gators early on.
This week, though, it’s the reverse. Bailey didn’t make all of his plays in garbage time, to be fair. He had a touchdown pass to Princeton Fant for the game’s first score. However, when the game was still within reach, Shrout was the star, while most of Bailey’s damage was done when it was already a blowout.
Despite Shrout completing fewer than 50 percent of his passes, he had two touchdowns. Both of them came in the second quarter and turned what was a 14-10 game into a 28-10 blowout, putting Tennessee football in complete control. Shrout’s interception was irrelevant, as it came with the Vols already up 35-10.
On the other hand, Bailey had much better stats, as he completed 14-of-18 passes for 207 yards for two touchdowns and no interceptions. He didn’t even have an incompletion when he was pulled. However, Shrout still did more when it was important. Because of that, we are giving him the nod over Bailey, although Jeremy Pruitt has a clear quarterback controversy now.