Tennessee senior kicker opts out of remainder of season

Posted December 07, 2020 6:00 am

The Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee kicker Brent Cimaglia has opted out of the Volunteers' final two games of the season, citing injuries and a need to focus on his mental well-being.

Cimaglia said in a post on social media Monday that took him some time to come to that conclusion.

'œHowever my focus is to work on my mental well-being and physical health,'ť Cimaglia wrote. 'œDue to many hardships and struggles within the program, it is in my best interest to take this additional time to rehabilitate ongoing injuries. I look forward to giving my best in the future.'ť

Cimaglia made 85.1% of his kicks last season. This season the senior is just 5-of-9 on field goals and missed an extra point in Saturday's 31-19 loss to No. 6 Florida, his first miss after 88 made extra points.

Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said he talked with Cimaglia, who has played through 'œdifficult circumstances'ť this season. Pruitt said Cimaglia also indicated he will come back next season with this season not counting against player eligibility.

'œHe feels like that it's better for him not to participate the remainder of the season and put him in a better spot to get ready for next year,'ť Pruitt said.

Punter Paxton Brooks also will fill in at kicker when Tennessee (2-6) visits Vanderbilt (0-8) on Saturday and in the regular season finale against No. 5 Texas A&M on Dec. 19.

Pruitt said freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey, who got his first career start in the loss to Florida, and J.T. Shrout will get the majority of work in practice moving forward. Brian Maurer will play a role with his athleticism.

That means Tennessee is benching senior Jarrett Guarantano, who hadn't practiced since a loss to then-No. 23 Auburn on Nov. 21 with several Vols quarantined or in isolation. Guarantano dressed against Florida but didn't play for the first time since Nov. 11, 2017.

'œWe're going to go with (Harrison) and J.T. and then kind of probably stay with the same schedule as we did this past week,'ť Pruitt said.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Tennessee quarterback Harrison Bailey (15) hands the ball off to running back Eric Gray (3) during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Florida on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, in Knoxville, Tenn. (Randy Sartin/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, Pool) The Associated Press

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.