Butch Jones: Jarrett Guarantano's ability to run when plays break down is something the Vols need

Jarrett Guarantano is a pocket passer at his core, but he has the athleticism to scramble for a few yards when a play breaks down.

That factored into his favor when the quarterback position came up for review during Tennessee’s bye week.

“It’s being able to create plays,” coach Butch Jones said Wednesday night on the Vol Calls radio show, “sometimes maybe when the pocket breaks down being able to get four or five yards through your legs on first down when he feels pressure – certain things like that.”

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Jones on Wednesday announced that Guarantano, a redshirt freshman, will make his first career start when the Vols (3-2, 0-2 SEC) host South Carolina (4-2, 2-2) on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN).

Quinten Dormady, who started the first five games, is less mobile than Guarantano.

Jones is accustomed to having mobile quarterbacks.

His quarterback rushed for more than 180 yards in each of his first 10 seasons as coach. That included seven seasons in which his QB topped 330 yards rushing. And that’s with sack yardage counted as rushing yardage in college football. Then-senior Joshua Dobbs led UT with 831 rushing yards last season.

The Vols are coming off a 41-0 loss to Georgia on Sept. 30 – their most lopsided loss in the history of Neyland Stadium – and Jones said “it was time to give Jarrett an opportunity.”

“Jarrett has continued to grow and mature,” Jones said on Vol Calls. “He’s continued to improve with every single rep, whether it be a live-game situation or in practice. I think the bye week really helped him. We need to score points. This is a junior- and senior-laden defensive conference right now, and so we just felt that he earned the right.”

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One question will be how Guarantano will handle the nerves of making his first career start. He has appeared in three games off the bench.

Jones said Guarantano texted him around 9:30 on a recent night and asked if Jones was still at his office. Guarantano was reviewing film in the quarterback meeting room.

Jones joined him, and they spent another hour reviewing film while Jones asked Guarantano questions.

“I said, ‘Hey, it’s just like you were back at Bergen Catholic. Football is football,’” Jones said on his radio show, referencing Guarantano’s high school.

As for Dormady, Jones said the junior has had “two very, very good practices,” since learning he’d be the backup.