‘FLUID’ SITUATION
Vols head toward opener with no starting quarterback in place
KNOXVILLE — Just four football teams in the Southeastern Conference have not named a starting quarterback ahead of this week’s slate of season-opening games, and they have an obvious connection.
The schools are Alabama and the three schools coached by Alabama coach Nick Saban’s most devout disciples.
Among them is Tennessee. For a second season in a row, the Volunteers are headed toward a neutral-site season opener against a Power Five conference opponent without a starting quarterback in place.
Most expect redshirt sophomore Jarrett Guarantano to take the first snap when the Volunteers face 17th-ranked West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, but not because of anything first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt has said publicly.
“With all the positions that we have, we still have competition,” Pruitt said Monday. “The best teams that I have ever been a part of, there’s lots of times that guys may start the first game but don’t start the fifth game or the eighth game.”
A depth chart released Monday by Tennessee listed Guarantano and Stanford graduate transfer Keller Chryst in the top slot at quarterback. Elsewhere around the conference, Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M listed both Kellen Mond and Nick Starkel in the top quarterback slot on the Aggies’ depth chart. Fisher rose to fame as Saban’s offensive coordinator during Saban’s five seasons as LSU’s coach from 2000 to 2004.
Third-year Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who was Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 to 2015, also has not named a starting quarterback for the Bulldogs’ season opener against Austin Peay on Saturday, in spite of a widespread assumption that returning starter Jake Fromm will keep the job over true freshman Justin Fields.
“I think we’re going to wait and see how things go; you don’t really have a plan going in,” Smart said.
Pruitt, who worked with Smart during eight years spent on Saban’s staff at Alabama, has struck a similar tone, even suggesting that the Vols could play two quarterbacks against the Mountaineers.
No evidence has surfaced to suggest that Chryst has overtaken Guarantano for the starting job. Guarantano earned offensive MVP honors for the spring game before Chryst’s summer arrival. In periods of practice open to media, Guarantano’s arm has appeared stronger.
Chryst’s appeal is an 11-2 career record as a starter at Stanford and a 19-to-6 career touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Pruitt indicated he wants the competition to continue throughout the season.
“There’s been lots of guys that didn’t even play in the first game that might have been the MVP in the last game,” said Pruitt, who was on the sideline orchestrating Alabama’s defense during the national championship game this past January when freshman Tua Tagovailoa entered at quarterback in the second half and led the Crimson Tide to the title.
Despite Tagovailoa’s performance and Jalen Hurts’ passionate comments on the handling of the quarterback battle at Alabama, Saban has yet to name a starting quarterback for this season.
Like mentor, like discple. “Football is a developmental game,” Pruitt said. “You have guys that have been in the program longer than others, that have a little better understanding of what we are trying to get done. You have guys who may have more ability that don’t understand just yet.
“It happens everywhere, and as they get more opportunities they might get a chance, and when they get a chance they have to make the most of it. With every position, it’s really fluid.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.