Changes are a foot for Tennessee and not limited to kicking players off the team.
According to a report from ESPN, Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt is making a move under center and benching redshirt junior Jarrett Guarantano and will start true freshman Brian Maurer on Saturday against No. 3 Georgia in Neyland Stadium.
Maurer played against FCS Chattanooga and in the second half of a loss to Florida two weeks ago, completing just four passes for 44 yards across those two games on 13 attempts (one interception). A four-star prospect out of the Sunshine State, the 6-foot-3 signal-caller broke the Florida state record for total points scored back in high school.
The youngster will face a huge step up in competition from his prep days when he takes snaps against the Bulldogs, who have the sixth-best scoring defense in the country and obviously hope to make a statement in their quest to impress the College Football Playoff Selection Committee down the road.
The news has to be a tough blow for Guarantano, who has been the Vols starter since the middle of the 2017 campaign. While the team had high hopes for him coming into this season, he has struggled in dropping three of the team’s first four games and thrown the same number of touchdowns (four) as interceptions against FBS competition.