Vol Report: Opportunity Awaits at Neyland Stadium

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee football team will open a two-week homestand on Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Vols welcome South Carolina, led by head coach Will Muschamp, for an SEC East matchup.

Following Wednesday's practice in shorts at Haslam Field, head coach Jeremy Pruitt said the Gamecocks will be a tough test, but he knows his team will be excited for the opportunity to return to Neyland Stadium.

"I think his guys play hard, they always have," said Pruitt about Muschamp. "Going back to when he was a defensive coordinator at LSU and Auburn, then went to Texas and came to be the head coach at Florida, his guys always play hard, sound, tackle well, they're going to get after you. That's what he was as a player. So, I do think they take on his personality."

Since 2012, each of the seven meetings between the Vols and the Gamecocks have been decided by one possession, with the average margin of victory being 3.3 points. Four of the meetings have been decided on the final play (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017).

"We have to be at our best, I know our guys are excited every time we get a chance to play a game at Neyland Stadium, experience the Vol Walk, running through the T," Pruitt said. "The passion of our fan base, how much our fans have affected the game this season has been tremendous and I know our guys are excited for the opportunity to play in front of our fans."

Pruitt said freshman quarterback Brian Maurer, who has started the last three games, is "doubtful" following a first-half injury against Alabama.

Redshirt junior Jarrett Guarantano and redshirt freshman J.T. Shrout have received the bulk of the reps in practice this week and Pruitt and his staff will decide later in the week who will start.

"We still have a lot of prep time between now and Saturday," Pruitt said. "We've got three days of work, still a lot that we do, so we'll sit down as a coaching staff and make a decision that we feel gives us the best opportunity to have success."

Guarantano has started 22 games in his career, but Shrout has shown flashes of potential. He nearly threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Josh Palmer against the Crimson Tide, but the ball was tipped at the last moment on a great play by Alabama All-America candidate cornerback Trevon Diggs.

Shrout threw for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns at William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita, Calif. in 2017, leading his squad to the state playoffs.

"J.T. is a really hard worker and he continues to develop and learn exactly how to play the position," Pruitt said. "(Quarterbacks Coach) Chris Weinke and (Offensive Coordinator) Jim Chaney have done a nice job developing the young man, he continues to grow as a quarterback. We don't see it because hasn't had many opportunities to play in many games but he'll get an opportunity Saturday and we'll see where he is at."

Freshmen Shining Early
The Vols have had 21 true freshmen play in a game this season, six of whom have started. In total, 31 true or redshirt freshmen have seen action in 2019. Highlighting the group of newcomers are Wanya Morris, Henry To'o To'o, and Darnell Wright who were all named to the FWAA Midseason Freshman All-America Watch List.

While he hasn't earned the starting nod, freshman safety Jaylen McCollough saw extended playing time against Alabama and collected his first career sack.

"He's played off and on as the year has gone on, a lot of people don't know he had a little foot surgery in the offseason that kind of hampered him a little bit during fall camp and he's kind of getting his legs back under him a little bit," said Pruitt of McCollough. "Looking at our GPS numbers yesterday at practice, he was the fastest that he's ran since he's been here, so that's good to see. It's probably some of him gaining confidence in what he's doing based off the reps, but he's a guy that we've asked to play four different positions in the secondary and there's very few freshmen that can do that, but he can. So he'll continue to play a lot of ball."

The Austell, Ga. product finished with a career-high four tackles against Alabama.

UT Hall of Fame Class of 2019
Tennessee will welcome the 2019 University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame Class this weekend. The six-person class will be officially inducted on Friday during a dinner at the Student Union on campus. The class will also be recognized during the first quarter of Saturday's game vs. South Carolina.

The 2019 class includes: Doug Dickey (football coach/administrator), R.A. Dickey (baseball), Christine Magnuson (women's swimming), Charles A. "Gus" Manning (administrator), Tony Parrilla (men's track & field) and Candace Parker (women's basketball).

More information on the UT Hall of Fame induction can be found here.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Jarrett Guarantano

Brian Maurer

Jaylen McCollough

Wanya Morris

Josh Palmer

J.T. Shrout

Henry To'o To'o

Darnell Wright

Related Videos