Tennessee receiver Dont’e Thornton is available and will play in the Vols’ matchup against Georgia on Saturday night in Athens.
The Vols’ listed Thornton as questionable on their Wednesday and Thursday night availability report before taking him off the report and deeming him available on Friday night. Thornton suffered what appeared to be a hand injury in the second half of Tennessee’s 33-14 win over Mississippi State last week at Neyland Stadium.
Thornton isn’t a starter but he has been Tennessee’s best receiver all season, leading the Vols with 505 receiver yards and four touchdowns this season.
On an offense that’s struggled to create big plays through the air this season, Thornton has been a consistent threat. He caught a 66-yard touchdown at Oklahoma, a 55-yard pass to set up a short touchdown against Alabama and caught a 73-yard touchdown last week against Mississippi State.
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The senior receiver’s caught just 20 total passes this season but has a catch of over 40 yards in six of Tennessee’s nine games to this point in the season.
In even more significant injury news, Thornton will be catching passes from starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Tennessee’s medical team cleared Iamaleava to play for the Vols ahead of the highly important rivalry matchup. Iamaleava’s and Thornton’s status were the major injury questions for Tennessee this week.
Tennessee’s meeting with Georgia has major SEC Championship and College Football Playoff ramifications. A win over Georgia would solidify the Vols playoff position and put them a win away from advancing to the SEC Championship for the first time since 2007.
The Vols are looking for their first win over Georgia since the famous Hail Mary victory at Sanford Stadium in 2016. After winning its first game against Kirby Smart’s Georgia program, Tennessee has lost seven straight games against the Bulldogs.
Kickoff between the Vols and Bulldogs is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Athens. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
