Kyle Trask came to Florida as a quarterback who was a backup in high school. He will line up behind center against Tennessee as a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate, someone who has thrown 34 touchdown passes already this season. He’s a backup to no QB with that productivity.
“Kyle Trask has done a phenomenal job of getting the ball to the right playmakers, knows where to go with the ball,” UT coach Jeremy Pruitt said this week.
The Vols will go into Saturday’s game against the Gators at Neyland Stadium (TV: CBS, 3:30 p.m.) hoping, for starters, that their quarterback doesn’t throw any TD passes to the opposition.
That’s happened three times already this season.
There are many reasons why Florida (7-1) is ranked No. 5 nationally and pointed toward the SEC Championship game later this month while Tennessee (2-5) has a five-game losing streak, its longest since 1988. The difference at quarterback, however, is arguably the most glaring example.
The Vols need a QB transformation. While finding their own version of Trask probably is expecting too much, they need an upgrade and they better be quick about it.
The SEC is running a go route toward offense. Top-ranked Alabama is averaging 48.5 points per game and hasn’t been slowed by the loss of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who fractured an ankle while returning the opening kickoff against UT here on Oct. 24. At the other end of the conference standings, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are retooling with coaches Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach respectively, who prefer football as a form of pinball.
“This has traditionally been a defensive-dominated league but over the last probably three or four years, you can see that it’s changing a little bit,” Pruitt said. “There’s been days that some of the best teams, who had the best defenses, their offenses have to cover for them. You’ve got to win a game 42-38 or 46-41 or something. You’ve got to be able to score points.”
The Vols haven’t been scoring points, not since getting a season-high 35 against Missouri on Oct. 3. They needed their past two games combined to reach 30.
In the meantime, starting quarterback Jarrett Guarantano has thrown more pick sixes (three) than he has touchdown passes (two) since halftime of the Oct. 10 game at Georgia. Smoke Monday’s 100-yard interception return was the seminal play of Auburn’s 30-17 victory over UT on Nov. 21, eclipsing the Vols’ season-high 464 yards of offense.
At this point, the Vols know what they have in Guarantano. Might behoove them to learn more about freshman backup Harrison Bailey, who’s appeared in three games. He played the final two series against Auburn.
Pruitt said Wednesday that hadn’t decided on a starting quarterback for Saturday but added that Bailey “definitely” will play. One of UT’s quarterbacks has been sidelined this week by contact tracing related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pruitt wouldn’t say which QB but did say that all the players who are being quarantined will be available on Saturday.
“Harrison is a smart guy who has worked really hard,” Pruitt said. “It’s been more about opportunities and getting live opportunities. He’s had a chance to do more and more of that as the season has gone.”
Pruitt said that the playing time has been “really, really good” for Bailey’s future. It might be good for Tennessee’s future if he got a lot more.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.