Jarrett Guarantano pitched a Kentucky pick-six on Saturday.
The Vols quarterback then pitched and Tennessee turned to the replacement of J. T. Shrout, a third-year student who played four games with a start in 2019.
Shrout intercepted on his first pass attempt and Guarantano returned.
Guarantano had three ball losses in the first half against Kentucky. A loose ball when partback Ty Chandler hit him despite everything thrown. Kelvin Joseph of Kentucky then skipped a pass to Cedric Tillman and returned it for a 41-yard touchdown.
Jamin Davis of Kentucky intercepted Guarantano in the next series and returned yards for a touchdown.
Shrout came in, passed twice and then intercepted through Tyrell Ajian of Kentucky.
Guarantano had three ball losses opposed to Georgia in Tennessee’s 44-21 loss. He launched an interception and failed twice.
Shrout pitched for 179 yards and a thirteen-pass landing in 27 in 2019 and was assigned the replacement role in 2020, as opposed to the second Brian Maurer and rookie Harrison Bailey, a widely touted prospect.
“J. T. had the opportunity to do more rehearsals,” Pruitt said. “We’re giving those two boys a chance. “
Maurer time in the preseason by a hamr tendon injury. Bailey’s early quarantine practices due to COVID-19 touch tracking protocols.
Bailey took all 49 shots in a Sunday scrum for some of Tennessee’s young players who didn’t get much or no chance to play in the first three games of the season.
“For him, (Sunday’s scrum) was smart, because depending on what our fall camp was like, he didn’t have much live action. We simply didn’t have enough games (during the preseason) for him to come in and out,” coach Jeremy Pruitt said. So it was smart for him. He was smart for a lot of players. Lots of energy. There were a lot of boys, for me, who stood out. We have to keep doing that and give those kids a chance to grow up. “
Mike Wilson covers athletics at the University of Tennessee. Send an email to michael. wilson@knoxnews. com and stay with him on Twitter . If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, a virtual subscription will give you access to all of this.