Tennessee Football: Butch Jones says Jarrett Guarantano will play against Indiana State

“We’re gonna play both quarterbacks on Saturday,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said on Thursday. After a long offseason that saw a quarterback battle between Quentin Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano, Dormady received every snap on Monday against Georgia Tech.

Jones noted the ball control offense of Georgia Tech and the flow of the game as the reason why both quarterbacks didn’t play, after teasing the possibility multiple times during the offseason.

With Indiana State coming to town on Saturday, the plan for the quarterbacks will be different.

“We have two very, very quality quarterbacks,” Jones said. “You need more than one quarterback. Again, it’s getting Jarrett the ample reps that he needs to perform on Saturdays.”

So both quarterbacks will play — which is hardly a surprise considering the opponent. Tennessee should have no trouble putting Indiana State away, so getting Jarrett Guarantano some snaps and experience is a no-brainer.

Jones didn’t mention a specific plan, but confirmed both would play. Tennessee fans on social media noticed some body language out of Guarantano after a Quinten Dormady touchdown pass, which of course has been the talk of the week.

I wouldn’t say Dormady did enough to end the conversation, but he was clearly the guy that the staff trusted the most. It is important to see how Guarantano reacts in a live game setting. That’s something that you don’t really know until you see it happen. Tennessee fans will get their first gauge on that tomorrow afternoon at Neyland Stadium.