Tennessee debuts freshman quarterback after another dominant day for Kentucky defense

For the second week in a row, Kentucky’s opponent opted to pull a veteran starting quarterback and bring in a true freshman.

Tennessee put Harrison Bailey into Saturday’s game midway through the fourth quarter after the Volunteers struggled all game against UK’s defense. Starting quarterback Jarrett Guarantano threw back-to-back interceptions in the first half, and both of those picks were returned for Kentucky touchdowns, giving the Wildcats an early 14-0 lead. Sophomore J.T. Shrout then came into the game in relief of Guarantano, but he also threw an interception on his first drive as the Vols’ quarterback. That pick led to a UK field goal and an early 17-0 lead for the Cats.

Kentucky won the game, 34-7, for its first victory in Knoxville since 1984.

Guarantano finished Saturday’s game at 14-for-21 passing for just 88 yards and no touchdowns. He also struggled in the second half against Georgia last week. Tennessee led that game, 21-17, going into halftime and ended up losing 44-21. Saturday was Guarantano’s 39th career start as Tennessee’s quarterback. In three previous games against Kentucky, he was 37-for-51 passing for 554 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Bailey — from Marietta, Ga. — was the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2020 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He finished his high school career with 11,716 passing yards to rank fourth in Georgia history. Only Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson and Jake Fromm are ahead of him on that all-time list.

His appearance late in Saturday’s game — with Kentucky leading 34-7 — was his first action as a college player. He completed his first pass for 24 yards, but his next three attempts were all incomplete, and the Vols’ drive ended on downs at the Kentucky 10-yard line.

Last week, Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach pulled graduate transfer quarterback K.J. Costello in favor of true freshman Will Rogers, but the substitution didn’t help the Bulldogs, who lost that game, 24-2. The two MSU quarterbacks combined to throw six interceptions.

This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 2:57 PM.

Ben Roberts

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Ben Roberts is the University of Kentucky men’s basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has previously specialized in UK basketball recruiting coverage and created and maintained the Next Cats blog. He is a Franklin County native and first joined the Herald-Leader in 2006. Support my work with a digital subscription