In a span of a few weeks, Tennessee seemingly went from having little confidence in any of the quarterbacks on the roster to having confidence in all three scholarship signal-callers to win them a game.

That’s clearly a nice place to be, considering the alternative, but the shuffling under center has been interesting as the Vols have started Jarrett Guarantano, Brian Maurer, JT Shrout and even technically Jauan Jennings at quarterback this season.

Last weekend in the team’s 30-7 win over UAB in Neyland Stadium, Tennessee started JT Shrout and removed him after one series. They put him back on the field to start the second half but then removed him again. Both times, Guarantano replaced the redshirt freshman.

True freshman Brian Maurer appears to be the quarterback that seems to have the most support from the fan base at this point but he’s been sidelined after leaving the Mississippi State and Alabama games due to injury. Could Maurer return to the field this week for the Kentucky game?

According to Pruitt, Maurer could be available to play in Lexington and was cleared to play against UAB last weekend.

“He was full-go last week. He was full-go last week,” Pruitt said of the freshman during his Monday press conference. “Again, we will look and see where we are at and who gives us the best opportunity to have success and we will play those guys. Might be one of them, might be two of them, might three of them.”

When asked to explain Tennessee’s unique QB rotation last week, Pruitt explained that Guarantano’s experience gives him an advantage that Shrout does not yet possess but it’s clear the team is trying to help Shrout develop with some action on the field. Shrout has now appeared in three consecutive games for the Vols.

“I felt like JT played good enough in the South Carolina game and he finished the game to start (vs. UAB). I knew at some point we would give Jarrett an opportunity,” Pruitt said. “He didn’t take as many snaps during the week as he normally does. He is a guy that can kinda glue things together with the other players. When he does that, we play better.

“Just comes with having more experience with the other guys. But, I think it’s easy for him. He has the maturity to kinda see and learn from what is going on during the game and apply it. That’s one of the reasons we’ve done it.”

Adding another layer to this issue, Guarantano had surgery just over a week ago and is sporting a cast on his left hand. It’s a unique spot to be in but as long as Tennessee keeps winning, fans aren’t going to complain about the rotation under center.