KNOXVILLE – In desperate need of a victory, Tennessee has a significant edge in playing an FCS opponent.
In this case, the Vols (0-2) host Chattanooga (1-1) at noon Saturday at Neyland Stadium. They haven’t lost to the Mocs since 1958 and won the last meeting in 2014, 45-10.
Furthermore, UT is 68-6-1 against all FCS opponents, including 48-4-2 against Chattanooga’s Southern Conference.
Here are some other things to know in association with Saturday’s game:
About Guarantano: Saturday’s game offers quarterback Jarrett Guarantano arguably his last best chance to gain some traction.
The Vols start SEC play at Florida on Sept. 21.
Through the first two games, the redshirt junior has regressed in terms of his decision-making. At times, he has stared down receivers. Other times, he has either failed to see open receivers or not delivered the ball to them quickly enough.
The quarterback who set a school record last season by throwing 166 consecutive passes without an interception already has thrown two this season. The interceptions corresponded with 10 points by the opposition.
Pruitt endorsed Guarantano this week to both the media and in a speaking engagement at the Knoxville Quarterback Club.
“I think a lot of it from the quarterback position is getting your eyes on the right spot, moving pretty fast through your progressions and having a timing mechanism,” Pruitt said.
About Guarantano’s backup: Since Pruitt has made it clear that Guarantano continues to be UT’s best quarterback, priority No. 1 is getting his game in order.
That said, the Vols also would like for J.T. Shrout and Brian Maurer to eventually get some game work toward determining who’s the backup QB.
“We’ve got to create a backup quarterback and you know, if you’ve been around our program the last six months, who the best quarterback on our team is,” Pruitt said. “But there’s also no doubt that sometimes after you’ve been under the lights a little bit it’s interesting to see how the guys play. We got to get both these guys live game opportunity so we can see.”
Going for it: When asked about a fourth down decision at the quarterback club on Monday, Pruitt drew a hearty laugh when he responded, “which one?”
Tennessee is one for five in fourth down conversions through two games, which is no laughing matter. The one success was a pass last Saturday that went off the hands of a BYU defender to Jauan Jennings for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
On UT’s two other fourth-down attempts against the Cougars, freshman running back Eric Gray was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter and Josh Palmer was tackled on an end-around when trying to gain one yard in the fourth quarter with Tennessee leading by three points.
Pruitt second-guessed, to some extent, the end-around call. But he stood by his overall aggressiveness on the pivotal down.
“We’re trying to create an identity and that we’re coming out there to win football games,” Pruitt said. “We have to get those. We have to get fourth-and-a-foot twice and we didn’t. I always do it and I’ll continue to do it, but I think we have to look in the mirror and see what we can do better and everybody’s doing that.”
Pruitt said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference that Tennessee has considered using Jeremy Banks and freshman Quavaris Crouch, who are currently deployed as linebackers, as running backs in short-yardage situations. The 6-foot-1, 246-pound Crouch rushed for 3,246 yards and 33 touchdowns in one high school season.
Big visitor: In conjunction with the football game, Lady Vols basketball will be hosting Angel Reese, a 6-foot-3 wing from Baltimore, Md., on an official visit. Reese is the No. 2 ranked recruit in the Class of 2020 class by ESPN.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988-2019. He may be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com