KNOXVILLE - Jarrett Guarantano has consulted two peers who have a unique understanding of the situation he faces this week.
Former Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs made his college debut at Alabama as a freshman in 2013, and Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson recently made his first trip to Tuscaloosa's imposing Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Current Tennessee quarterback Guarantano has been in communication with both before the first road start of his college career. The Volunteers (3-3, 0-3 SEC) play Saturday at top-ranked Alabama (7-0, 4-0).
"I think high school I played at some tough road games," Guarantano said. "That's what I can base it off of, but I know there's nothing to put that against Alabama, the number-one team in the country."
Guarantano, a redshirt freshman, was highly ranked in the 2016 recruiting class along with Patterson, who took a 66-3 loss when Ole Miss played at Alabama on Sept. 30. Guarantano said he asked Patterson about the atmosphere and the things Alabama's defense did well when the two talked recently.
Dobbs played the second half of Tennessee's 45-10 loss at Alabama in 2013. Two years later, he nearly led the Vols to an upset victory in Tuscaloosa before the Vols fell 19-14.
"I talk to Josh probably twice or three times a week," Guarantano said. "He talks to me about preparing and being ready for the opportunity."
Playing Alabama is certainly an opportunity. Johnny Manziel cemented his national stardom as a redshirt freshman quarterback at Texas A&M in 2012 when he led the Aggies to a 29-24 victory against the No. 1 Crimson Tide on the road.
But as Patterson and Dobbs can attest, Manziel's victory is the exception. Alabama is 63-4 at home over the past 10 seasons.
"They definitely deserve all the respect they get," Guarantano said. "They're the number-one team and their defense is top five in every single aspect. They deserve respect, but we're not just going to go down there and lay down for them. We're going to go in there very confident, and we're going to go in and out-physical them and just play ball."
Guarantano said he was in the film room Saturday night reviewing the tape of Tennessee's 15-9 loss to South Carolina. It was his first career start, and the close loss left him unable to sleep late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
"It definitely weighed on me, and I think just knowing we've got Alabama the next week you've got to snap and clear that whole thing," Guarantano said Tuesday. "Yesterday was the start of something, and we just continue rolling."
Offensive coordinator Larry Scott said Guarantano's progression has been in line with "what you would expect." Nothing replaces playing, Scott said. And the South Carolina game was Guarantano's first time playing a game start to finish in college.
Guarantano said he felt the game helped him gain more respect from his teammates.
"I think they're starting to love me more and more," he said. "I think after the game Saturday that they have a lot more respect. They're definitely talking to me in a different manner. I feel a lot more love from them."
Guarantano even threw a downfield block on one play. That move got him in some trouble with his mother, he admitted with a chuckle.
"I told her I've got to do what I've to do to win the team and to make plays," Guarantano said.
Tennessee's offense has not scored in its last 10 quarters, and doing so against the Alabama defense will require a level of execution that has been lacking through that stretch. Guarantano will be the quarterback in charge of making it happen, but Scott wants him to know that "he's not going down there to play Alabama by himself."
"Rely on your teammates; rely on the rest of us; rely on your coaches," Scott said. "We're all in this together. We're going to have his back and do the things we need to be doing to assist him for all of us to have success."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.