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Freshman Brian Maurer starts second half vs. Florida

After a less than ideal first half, the freshman got the call.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After throwing for 73 yards and two interceptions in the first half, Tennessee went away from quarterback Jarrett Guarantano in Gainesville. Freshman QB Brian Maurer led the Vol offense to start the second half against Gators.

Maurer, a Florida native, went 3/6 for 46 yards and helped Tennessee get its first points of the game off of a 40-yard Brent Cimaglia field goal.

"I think Jarrett has lots of ability to be a really good player. And I’ve said that over and over. But there are times where you kind of have to take the bull by the horns and say let’s go. Got to make some plays. You have to have an impact on the people around you. And that’s one of the things I’ve been talking to him about. You’ve been around those folks, whether it’s playing sports or in a room, whatever. Somebody has positive vibes that makes you feel good, gets excited about where you’re at and what you’re doing. We need a little bit of that. We made a few mistakes there (at quarterback), so we went with Brian (Maurer). And to get Jarrett settled down a little bit. Brian came in and did a couple things. He had a really good drive right down the field. Right there at the end he threw a ball into triple coverage. If he throws it on the other side, it’s probably a walk-in touchdown. So there are plays out there like that, that we left out there a little bit today and have in the past, which has hurt our production offensively,” head coach Jeremy Pruitt said in his postgame press conference. 

Maurer saw his first action in Orange and White last Saturday against Chattanooga, where he did not complete a pass, but ran for a touchdown in the 45-0 win over the Mocs.

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