Late Saturday night following Tennessee’s latest faceplant, the famous Rock on campus was plastered with cries by fans for a quarterback change.

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Is a change coming during the bye week? Only time will tell.

During Tuesday’s open periods of practice, Jarrett Guarantano was still taking the initial reps, with Brian Maurer and JT Shrout juggling the backup snaps. Guarantano has definitely not turned the corner in his redshirt junior season, leading to many wonder if Jeremy Pruitt will make a quarterback change before the Georgia game.

Through four games, three guys have taken snaps, with Maurer replacing Guarantano for four series in the 34-3 loss to Florida.

So what if Tennessee opts to bench Guarantano for its upcoming showdown with the No. 3 Bulldogs? Is Maurer the answer? What about Shrout?

Here’s a look at both freshman quarterbacks, how they’ve performed this season in spot duty and what a possible solution might look like.

First, the raw stats:

Maurer — 38 total snaps, 3 of 14 (30.8% completion) passing for 44 yards (3.4 yards per attempt), two batted attempts and one interception. Discounting sacks, he also has five carries for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Shrout — 20 total snaps, 3 of 9 (33.3% completion) passing for 23 yards (2.6 yards per attempt) with two drops. He also had an interception negated by a penalty.

The sample size here is obviously very small. It’s also noteworthy that after both played multiple series against FCS foe Chattanooga — where Maurer led one short touchdown drive and Shrout engineered a field goal possession — Pruitt said postgame, “They’ve both done some good things in the game and they both made some horrible decisions in the game. Which is expected, right? That’s their first opportunity. … I didn’t see much that separated them today.”

So if Tennessee opts to bench Guarantano, where should it turn?

While Maurer is the most popular man on campus right now, I’d play both and let them sort out the competition over the next three weeks before a home date against South Carolina.

The outcry for Maurer to take the reigns is not totally unfounded after watching Guarantano regress through the first month of the season, but considering how little we know about either freshmen quarterback, why should the staff anoint one over the other without giving both a long look? What is there to lose?

Just nine days ago Pruitt stated that the Vols would’ve gone with Shrout against BYU had something happened to Guarantano. Shrout had “a pass play package” and Maurer played first against Chattanooga because of a quarterback-run heavy package.

Based on the play-calling Saturday, it certainly did not seem like Pruitt or Jim Chaney had any intention of playing a second quarterback.

After Guarantano’s awful second quarter, Maurer entered the game at halftime, but the the plan for the freshman was haphazard, at best. While the Vols went almost exclusively out of the gun (only one of 24 snaps under center), there were just a few RPOs called and zero quarterback-designed runs. Maurer dropped back for 12 straight throws at one point, completing a couple nice RPOs (including the quick slant to Johnson) with several air-mails, three tipped passes and one interception mixed in.

Maurer has a quick release and is decisive, but his decision-making remains an area of work. He had decent protection Saturday and got the ball out of his hands quickly, but did he go to the right spots?

This was Maurer’s best throw Saturday.

That’s a rip. Josh Palmer was blanketed in coverage, but Maurer steps up in the pocket threw the ball where only his receiver could catch it. The RPO to Brandon Johnson earlier in the drive was a nice play, too. Good read, simple, quick throw.

But Maurer’s accuracy was not a strength Saturday. Again, play-calling didn’t do him many favors, but he had multiple passes thrown yards out of bounds and several tipped at the line of scrimamge. Here’s a compilation of throws that nearly resulted into three turnovers.

The tipped pass to Wood-Anderson is a great example of a mis-read by a freshman. Josh Palmer has 1-on-1 coverage with no safety help on the right side, but Maurer locks onto Wood-Anderson immediately and nearly throws a pick. Pruitt was critical of this throw on his coach’s show Sunday.

Now, Shrout wasn’t any better in his time against the Mocs. His wideouts let him down with acouple drops, but his first career pass would’ve been a misfire for an interception had it not been negated by a penalty. He also one-hopped a throw and missed Johnson for a touchdown up the seam by throwing behind him.

The reality is neither freshman is ready, but we also have no clue if one is truly better than another. So play them both.

Maurer threw for 3,500 yards and 34 touchdowns as a senior in high school, and his coach Matthew Franklin once told me, “He can put a ball in a bucket. He could improve on his downfield accuracy but the kid can put a ball anywhere you need it. That with his ability to extend plays with his feet and improvise. That was one of the big things Ohio State said about him, ‘He has an uncanny ability to get out of trouble and keep his eyes downfield.’”

Let’s find out if that’s the case.

As for Shrout, who had 25 touchdowns and 27 interceptions as a senior, it was just two years ago that Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel was quoting multiple NFL folks saying Shrout was the most polished quarterback at a camp that included Justin Fields and Hank Bachmeier.

“I think of all the quarterbacks who were here, if I were an NFL general manager or quarterback coach, [he’d be] the guy who could step in on day one and fundamentally work within an NFL system,” said Sage Rosenfels, a longtime NFL backup who works as private quarterback coach in the Omaha area. “His drop was smooth. His fundamentals were very efficient and he throws a great ball.”

Let’s see it.

The fact is, if Tennessee moves on from Guarantano, the offensive scheme must change. Both Maurer and Shrout had issues going under center during the spring — something neither had done in high school — so the Vols would become primarily a spread team. In two games, Maurer has been in the gun on 35 of 38 snaps. That’s not necessarily a bad thing either, as he’s clearly more comfortable in a spread, RPO, zone read system. It was just 18 months ago that everyone had Maurer pegged to West Virginia to work with Jake Spavital and Dana Holgerson. Shrout’s skill-set is much more similar to Guarantano, but he too hails from a spread system.

Chaney must help his young quarterbacks by putting them in a position to succeed. More RPOs, less five-step drops, more designed runs (like Maurer’s QB sweep touchdown).

Tennessee’s season is lost. Neither freshmen will be a savior, but with Guarantano endlessly bumping his head on Willy Wonka’s low ceiling, see if Maurer or Shrout gives the offense a spark. Some hope.

With Georgia and Alabama upcoming, the next few weeks will be an uphill battle regardless of who is behind center. If the decision is made to bench Guarantano, find out what you have in both kids and then “pick a guy” for the final month of the season.