Efficiency a strength for Vols’ Guarantano
KNOXVILLE — After presiding over his first Tennessee football practice held in full pads on March 24, coach Jeremy Pruitt fielded a question about redshirt sophomore quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and replied with a compliment — at least in Pruitt’s eyes.
“One thing Jarrett has done is he’s thrown the ball away,” Pruitt said.
Noting a quarterback’s prowess in throwing the football away is tantamount to praising a coach for his steadfastness in choosing to punt on fourth-and-short in enemy territory.
It’s not exciting. Even as the Volunteers (2-1) enter a Southeastern Conference schedule against opponents stocked with star quarterbacks, though, Pruitt is holding to a simple set of expectations for Guarantano. So far, he is responding well.
“Well, I think Jarrett has played within the system,” Pruitt said Saturday after Tennessee’s 24-0 win over the University of Texas at El Paso. “He’s been pretty accurate. He’s done a good job trying to keep us out of negative plays.”
Guarantano is one of four quarterbacks in the SEC without an interception this season, and only Georgia’s Jake Fromm has completed a higher percent of passes (80.4) than Guarantano (72.2).
Graduate transfer quarterback Keller Chryst has appeared in Tennessee’s past two games, but Guarantano’s efficiency has eliminated any rumblings of a quarterback battle as his leadership ability continues to blossom.
Pruitt has said that throughout his coaching career he has been part of player-led teams and coach-led teams. Last week, he criticized player leadership on the team and said that he — the head coach — is the leader at this juncture in the season.
On Saturday, Guarantano appeared to be taking command of the offense on the sideline as the Vols struggled with penalties and blocking at times despite his throwing efficiency and a running game that amassed 345 yards.
Junior receiver Brandon Johnson said Guarantano is a better leader than he was last season.
“As expected,” Johnson said. “You grow with time, and I feel like he’s really grown. Just being more vocal — being more vocal and then having that confidence. Being a good leader has a lot to do with confidence, too. You can tell he has that confidence now.”
Pruitt wondered aloud after the win against UTEP if Guarantano might be able to make more throws on run-pass option plays in which he has chosen to hand the football off to a running back. Ultimately, he deferred to Guarantano, saying, “It’s easy for me to sit here and talk about it. He’s got to play with what he sees out there.”
The level of competition will increase over the next five weeks, beginning Saturday night as Florida (2-1, 0-1) visits Neyland Stadium. But so far, Guarantano appears to be meshing comfortably with the expectations Pruitt expressed almost six months ago.
“To me, everybody always talks about touchdowns, big plays, explosive plays and a quarterback running with the ball,” Pruitt said after that first full-pads spring practice. “He (Guarantano) has the ability to do all that, but to me the first thing the quarterback has got to do is take care of the ball.”