QB Dormady already taking charge for Vols

Play during first start solidifies No. 1 job at Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE, TENN.—

If Tennessee’s Quinten Dormady improves as much throughout the season as he did in his fifirst career start, the Volunteers won’t have to worry about their quarterback situation.

After winning a preseason competition with redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano, Dormady struggled initially but came on strong down the stretch to spark the 25th-ranked Volunteers to a 42-41 double-overtime victory over Georgia Tech. The performance should give Dormady a confifidence boost heading into Tennessee’s home opener Saturday with Football Championship Subdivision program Indiana State (0-1).

His second- half surge caught the attention of his teammates.

“I’m really proud of him, how he handled himself,” running back John Kelly said.

Dormady said he wasn’t particularly nervous about making his fifirst start, but the statistics show how much he improved as the game wore

on. After going 8 of 20 for 52 yards in the fifirst half, Dormady was 12 of 17 for 169 yards with two touchdown passes the rest of the way.

Tennessee coaches had talked during the preseason about the possibility of playing both Dormady and Guarantano in the opener, but Dormady said he didn’t look over his shoulder or worry about getting pulled from the game during his early struggles.

“I wasn’t focused on that,” Dormady said. “I was just focused on executing. It took us a little while to get going, but when we finally did hit (our) stride, it felt pretty good out there.”

Dormady never did get removed, and he eventually rewarded the coaching staff ff’ s faith in him. He led Tennessee (1-0) to touchdowns on

fifive of its last six possessions, including a tying 93-yard drive in the fifinal fifive minutes of regulation. He never got sacked and didn’t commit any turnovers.

His performance should provide some hope that Tennessee has found a capable replacement for Alpharetta native Joshua Dobbs, who started 35 games over the last four seasons before getting drafted in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I can’t say enough about Quint en ,” of ff ff ff ff ff fens ive tackle Brett Kendrick said. “He always had his composure. He reminded me a lot of Dobbs (in that) he was ac alming presence on the sideline. There’s no worry in him. You always want someone like that in a quarterback.”

Dormady’s emergence in the secondhalf and overtime was particularly noteworthy because it came without Jauan Jennings, who started the season as Tennessee’ s top returning receiver. Jennings got injured in the fifirst half of the Georgia Tech game and is out indefinitely.

Jennings’ absence will force Dormady to develop a rhythm with Tennessee’s

other receivers. He already appears to have found a favorite target in Marquez Callaway (Warner Robins), who caught four passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia Tech. Tennessee’ s match up with

Indiana State should help Dormady build that trust with receivers while also correcting mistake she made in

the opener.