It’s a natural question for fans to ask as they watch this Tennessee team.
The Vols have a quarterback who is an elite runner in Joshua Dobbs, a potentially, albeit unproven, more accurate thrower in Quinten Dormady, and a dynamic freshman in Jarrett Guarantano.
Why not play more than one?
It’s a strategy that teams such as Alabama, Georgia, Texas and others used in the opening weekend of college football with overall success. But don’t look for that this weekend from UT against Virginia Tech in Bristol. Butch Jones made his commitment to one guy during a press conference on Wednesday.
“You know [the quarterbacks] are always constantly competing,” Jones, who also confirmed that Dobbs is 100% healthy on the SEC Teleconference, said. “I think all the quarterbacks have really done a good job. But as of right now, no, Josh Dobbs is our quarterback, but I’ve really liked the progression they’re all making.
“I think Quinten (Dormady) continues to get better and better and better. Jarrett (Guarantano) everyday walks off the field a better football player. Sheriron (Jones) is doing a good job. I’ve been really pleased with the progression of that group, but again, there is no quarterback controversy or number of quarterbacks – for us it’s Josh Dobbs.”
Dobbs (16-of-29) completed just 55.2% of his passes in the opener against Appalachian State last Thursday. After finding an early rhythm, the Vols got out of sync in the passing game in the second and third quarters before a 65-yard deep ball to Josh Malone got Tennessee back in the game. Dobbs finished with 192 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also had his first negative-rushing yard game in his career (-4).
Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord pointed out that the lack of protection played a huge part in derailing the passing game at times against the Mountaineers.
“We had guys open, we just struggled with the protection part,” DeBord said. “We went down the field twice on first down and ended up with second and long because we didn’t handle the pressure up front. We’ve got to do a good job of pass protecting first so we can get the ball to those guys. We have to improve that and that’s something we’ve been stressing this week in practice.
“I know our offensive line was disappointed with the way we played last week.”
