MIKE STRANGE

Could Tennessee win big with a freshman QB?

Mike Strange
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano during practice on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.

Let's say Jarrett Guarantano starts a couple games in 2017. Heck, just for kicks, let's say he starts all of them.There are a couple of historical notes that might be instructive.

Tennessee's history with freshman quarterbacks has been sparse. Starting a freshman at the game's most crucial position isn't ideal and almost always involves taking some lumps.

Guarantano, who redshirted last fall, his first on campus, is competing with Quinten Dormady, who has played only mop-up time in his two seasons. Either way, the Vols get a guy with a live-action learning curve.

Of the UT seasons in which a freshman quarterback has made significant starts, eight wins was pretty much the ceiling. The exception was a 10-3 season in 2004 when not one, but two freshmen started.

Would eight wins in 2017 satisfy a Tennessee fan base desperate to return to the glory days? I have my doubts.

It's too early to say who Butch Jones will start next fall, but it wouldn't be a stretch to see both Dormady and Guarantano get multiple starts.

Starting a freshman quarterback is a fairly recent development, in part, of course, because there was a time when freshmen weren't eligible.

Alan Cockrell started one game in 1981 but played sparingly otherwise. In 1987, Sterling Henton, a redshirt freshman, filled in admirably when junior Jeff Francis missed two November games.

Quarterback Casey Clausen won six straight games after taking over as freshman starter in 200.

The story of 1994 is oft-told. Senior Jerry Colquitt's opening day ACL injury scuttled the script. Peyton Manning and Brandonn Stewart got a trial by fire. The Vols were 1-3 when Manning got his first start on Oct. 1. They went 7-1 the rest of the way to finish 8-4.

The 2000 scenario was similar. Redshirt freshman A.J. Suggs made four starts. At 2-3, Phillip Fulmer turned it over to true freshman Casey Clausen and the Vols won six straight before a Cotton Bowl loss to Kansas State. Another 8-4.

A Clausen injury in 2002 led to freshman James Banks starting at Mississippi State in November. The Vols ran it 64 times, threw it only eight and Banks got a win in his only start before moving to receiver. Record: 8-5.

In 2004, Clausen was gone. Phillip Fulmer bypassed holdover C.J. Leak to go with true freshmen Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge. Good call, the Vols went 10-3 and won the SEC East at 7-1, a record they likely wouldn't have achieved with Leak. By the way, Tennessee hasn't been 7-1 in the league since.

Best I can tell, Schaeffer is the only freshman who has started on opening day. Ainge was heavily in the rotation, took over in the fourth game and started until he got hurt against Notre Dame on Nov. 6.

After that, transfer Rick Clausen finished the season. That was a good team. The only losses were to Notre Dame and twice to 13-0 Auburn.

Jonathan Crompton, a redshirt freshman, started once in 2006, a November loss at Arkansas.

In 2010, UT opened 2-6 with transfer Matt Simms at quarterback. True freshman Tyler Bray took over in November and went 4-0 against a friendly schedule before a Music City Bowl loss. Record: 6-7.

A year later, Justin Worley was handed three starts when Bray was hurt. He won only one. Record: 5-7.

We're almost caught up. A season-ending injury to Worley in 2013 threw Joshua Dobbs into the fire in October. Dobbs went 1-3 in four starts on a 5-7 team.

Check Tennessee's career passing chart and you'll find many of the names. Manning, Clausen, Ainge, Bray, Dobbs, they all got there.

But as freshmen, they had their share of struggles, especially early in the season. In most cases, so did their team.

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.

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