Georgia and Tennessee each will get a strong sense of Jim Chaney’s coaching ability Saturday night at Neyland Stadium as the Volunteers roll out a freshman starter at quarterback for the SEC Eastern Division matchup.
Tennessee is going to start Brent Maurer, a 6-foot-3, 193-pound freshman from Ocala, Fla., against the No. 3 Bulldogs in a nationally televised game. First reported Friday afternoon, Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt confirmed the decision to go with the little-used Maurer over the experienced fourth-year junior Jarrett Guarantano, during a television appearance on SEC Nation on Saturday morning.
“We’ve not executed exactly at the level that we want to be at,” Pruitt said. “To me, I look at it kind of like a basketball shooter. You got a hot shooter that’s not making shots, so you put him on the bench and let him be the sixth man. Jarrett Guarantano’s going to play today. But Brian Maurer is a guy that has worked hard. He’s a really good athlete, so we’re going to give him an opportunity to see what he does to start the game.”
» RELATED: Georgia-Tennessee: TV, online, radio information
It’s definitely a risky play by Pruitt, who has come under fire in his second season at the helm of the Tennessee football as the Vols have gotten off to a 1-3 start that included home losses to Georgia State and BYU. Tennessee also lost to Florida 34-3 in its previous outing, two weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla.
The task to have Maurer ready to compete falls on Chaney. Tennessee’s veteran offensive coordinator ran Georgia’s offense the first three years under Kirby Smart. He left UGA in January to accept Pruitt’s offer that will pay him $5.1 million over the next three years, which is nearly twice what he would have made with the Bulldogs ($950,000 a year).
Chaney will earn it as he breaks in an unproven quarterback against an opponent that came in as 24.5-point favorite.
Maurer is a 3-star prospect out of Ocala’s West Port High School who committed to the Vols in December. He chose Tennessee over West Virginia and Boston College.
Maurer has played in two of the Vols’ four games. He comes in with a 43.82 quarterback rating having completed 30.7 percent his passes (4-for-13) for 44 yards and one interception. Maurer has also run for 17 yards on 7 carries. He relieved Guarantano in the second half of the Florida game after Guarantano had thrown two interceptions. Maurer also threw an interception in the game.
Guarantano, a 6-4, 213-pound junior, started the first four games of the season and 18 overall coming into this year. He has a quarterback rating of 147.23 after completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 736 yards and 7 touchdowns with 4 interceptions.
Tennessee’s move appears to be a wake-up call for Guarantano as much as anything. Pruitt said the New Jersey native would definitely play Saturday.
“I want to start with Jarrett Guarantano,” Pruitt said on SEC Nation. “This guy is a guy that I believe in.”
