Tennessee Football: Jarrett Guarantano is the killer of Kentucky’s dreams
Both Kentucky and Tennessee came into Saturday looking for their fifth win of the season, and thanks to Jarrett Guarantano, the Vols were the victors.
Last year Jarrett Guarantano led the Tennessee football team to a win over Kentucky’s best football team since the 1980s in Neyland Stadium. A heartbreaking loss for the Wildcats, but that was a prove-it game for JG, and he proved a lot.
That same attitude and on-field performance hasn’t transferred over into this season, at least not before this year’s Kentucky game.
Brian Maurer returned to the field after getting a concussion against Alabama. The Vols have survived with Guarantano and J.T. Shrout sharing quarterback duties, but everyone has been waiting for Maurer to return to the field.
Maurer was given the starting duty for Saturday’s matchup against Kentucky, and the first half was uneventful with him holding down the quarterback position.
The Vols were only able to muster up three first-half points, so either Maurer had to figure something out, or a change was necessary.
Jeremy Pruitt opted to switch quarterbacks and bring in Guarantano in the second half. It paid off as JG was able to lead the Vols to two touchdowns and 14 unanswered points for a 17-13 win.
Guarantano finished the day 7-of-8, 115 passing yards, and two touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing on six rushes for 30 yards. Guarantano is the only reason we won this game, and as much as I have been against him since the beginning of the season, it feels good to say that.
Last year, Kentucky thought they were going to come into Neyland Stadium and have a cakewalk, but they didn’t know the wrath that Guarantano was about to lay on them. They thought they had a chance again this year, and guess what, JG whooped them Cats again.
Two years in a row, two beatdowns in a row brought to you by JG. Now, the score doesn’t indicate it was an actual beatdown, nor does the box score, but to be down by ten at half time and come back in the second half and shut down Kentucky like they did is not easy.
Kentucky has had their dreams crushed for the second straight year by Tennessee’s second (third?) best quarterback and they should feel really bad about this loss.
Maybe we should keep Guarantano on the roster forever and play him one game a year when Tennessee plays Kentucky. Only to secure the win every year.
The Vols’ defense was nothing to ignore either. They were on point, especially in the second half, and were able to keep JG and the offense in the game.
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It wasn’t the prettiest game I have ever seen, but a win is a win. Kentucky sucks and JG rules as of 11/09/19. Now let’s get healthy this week and go win our sixth game of the season against Missouri in a couple of weeks.