It’s officially Florida week for the Tennessee Volunteers as the football game will be played as scheduled in Gainesville with a 2:30 p.m. Central time kickoff.
With a 2-0 start that has led to more questions than answers, the No. 23 Vols are set to open SEC play against the No. 24 Gators.
UT coach Butch Jones is keeping quiet when it comes to the use of his two quarterbacks, Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano. It appears Dormady is the clear leader, but coach Jones isn’t saying how he might platoon the quarterbacks on Saturday.
When asked to break down their performances against Indiana State, coach Jones said, “I thought we left some plays out there in the first half, but if you look at the efficiency of throwing the football, I thought they did some good things. I’m very encouraged and excited about that. Both these individuals need to continue to gain valuable repetitions.”
Dormady, a junior, finished as the team leader in passing yards against Indiana State, going 13 of 18 for 194 yards passing. He threw 2 TDs, had 1 INT and also lost a fumble.
Guarantano was 4 of 12 for 41 yards passing and 1 TD.
When asked how comfortable he is with Dormady, coach Jones said, “Obviously, the goal each week is to get more comfortable and to go out and execute. I thought we did a better job, definitely, as far as that goes. I was definitely more comfortable.”
Jones was also asked about the first playing time of his young redshirt freshman, Guarantano.
“It really wasn’t scripted. I told him to be ready and that it could be the second or third series,” said Jones. “It’s just kind of a feel thing. I thought he had a very good week of preparation. I liked his mindset along with Quinten, in terms of taking the mental reps when they weren’t in. Again, any time you get repetitions, they’re invaluable, even at the end of the game. I thought that was really productive, and I was impressed with the things we saw from both quarterbacks.”