Quarterback
Nathanael: C-
Jarrett Guarantano got off to arguably the worst start of any game he’s played as a Vol on Saturday, missing on his first seven pass attempts and throwing a bad interception. But to his credit, he bounced back after that brutal beginning and made some nice throws, chiefly his touchdown pass to Dominick Wood-Anderson and a strike to Jauan Jennings that Jennings ended up getting a ton of yards after catch on.
Jim Chaney moved away from the passing attack after the early struggles, and that was the right decision given the weather and how bad Vanderbilt was at defending the run. I’m a little more lenient on JG here because of the downpour in the first half and the fact that his grandmother passed away just a couple days ago, but Saturday still wasn’t a good day from him overall.
Ben: C
It’s hard to gauge just how good Jarrett Guarantano was against Vanderbilt because of the circumstances. First off, Guarantano was playing just two days after the passing of his grandmother. Then, the weather determined the Vols’ offensive game-plan. UT has been able to finish the season 7-5 because of its passing attack, but because of the weather and two rain delays, Saturday night called for many run plays. Guarantano’s most important job on Saturday was to make sure the offense was set up properly to succeed in the running game. Only the coaches know how well he performed in that department. I give him a C, though, because he did have some ugly misses early in the game. To his credit, however, he also had a couple of nice throws later.
