Tennessee opens camp, quarterback battle starts
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Quinten Dormady has to go back to his middle school days in Texas to think of the last time the Tennessee junior played in a twoquarterback system.
He may encounter that scenario once again this season.
Dormady is competing for the starting job with redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano, and the Tennessee coaches are open to rotating quarterbacks.
“We are just here to win a championship, so whatever that looks like, whatever we have to do to get there, I think as an overall team and offensive unit, I think that people are definitely willing to do that,” Dormady said Saturday after Tennessee's first preseason practice. “So whatever happens, we will go with it and do our best to try to get us back to the top.”
Tennessee opens the season on Sept. 4 against Georgia Tech at the new MercedesBenz Stadium in Atlanta as part of the Chick-fil-A-Kickoff.
For the first time since 2014, the Vols will have someone other than Joshua Dobbs, now a rookie with the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, starting at quarterback.
No quarterback on Tennessee's roster has started in college, while Dormady is the only quarterback to play in a game, completing 24 of 39 passes for 357 yards in 10 games as Dobbs' backup.
During Tennessee's weather-shortened spring game, Dormady was 10 for 10 for 120 yards and two touchdowns while Guarantano finished 4 for 5 for 41 yards.
Although some give the 6-foot-4, 222-pound Dormady a slight edge to start, he doesn't consider himself the frontrunner.
“I don't really look at it like that,” said Dormady, who got engaged this summer. “Obviously, it's an open competition. Everybody here knows that. We know that. Like I have said all spring, it's just going out and competing every day. Like I've said, working on the little details and fundamentals and just trying to improve my game.”
Both quarterbacks led the team through 7-on-7 sessions this summer to build chemistry with their teammates and demonstrate leadership.
Guarantano says that work has helped him process a bit quicker, figure out his footwork and work on his arm strength. Since signing with the Vols as a highlyranked recruit out New Jersey, Guarantano has received a lot of hype for his potential.
Alabama's Hand arrested for DUI
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama defensive end Da'Shawn Hand has been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence less than a week before the Crimson Tide opens fall camp.
Tuscaloosa Sheriff Department online records show that Hand was arrested Saturday. He was jailed on $1,000 bond after the arrest by campus police.
No more information was immediately available. A university spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for details.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a statement he's still gathering information and will determine appropriate disciplinary action later. Saban says, “This type of behavior is not acceptable and we are disappointed in Da'Shawn's actions.”
Hand is expected to contend for a starting job this season. The 6-foot-4, 288-pound senior was rated the nation's top overall recruit by Rivals.com out of high school in Woodbridge, Virginia. He has seven career sacks, including two last season.
The Tide opens Sept. 2 against Florida State in a likely matchup of top 5 teams.