KNOXVILLE – Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt saw a lot of positives after inserting freshman Brian Maurer into the starting quarterback slot against third-ranked Georgia.
And barring some unforeseen circumstances, Maurer will remain in that position.
Maurer wasn’t great, but he wasn’t horrible against the Bulldogs in the 43-14 loss. Much like when he went into the previous game to start the second half against ninth-ranked Florida, he infused a level of energy that resulted in some early points – a field goal against the Gators, passing touchdowns on consecutive drives against the Bulldogs – before being brought back down to earth.
With a 205-yard first half against Georgia, Maurer finished 14-of-28 for 259 yards and two touchdowns, with two turnovers.
“I thought he had really good energy, he did some nice things, especially early on,” Pruitt said Monday. “He made some really nice throws and got the ball out of his hand. But he also made some mistakes, too. He probably should have handed the ball off a couple of times, and he made incorrect reads there. In the second half, a couple of times he worked the wrong side of the field.