Vols coach Jones not saying which QB will start opener
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Butch Jones is using the same bit of gamesmanship as Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson. Both aren’t saying who will be at quarterback for their season opener.
Jones hasn’t named a starter for Monday’s game at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium but has “a pretty good idea.” Johnson has said he also had chosen his starting quarterback but didn’t want to reveal his selection.
Both coaches this season must replace productive quarterbacks and are working every possible angle to get an edge. Whether this secrecy actually works as a strategy is up for debate.
“Through video study and everything that goes into it, we have a pretty good idea who the quarterback will be for us, and we have a pretty good idea who the quarterback will be for them as well,” Jones said.
Tennessee has junior Quinten Dormady and redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano competing to replace Pittsburgh Steelers fourth-round draft pick Joshua Dobbs, who started 35 games over the last four seasons. Dormady is backed up Dobbs the last two seasons and performed exceptionally in the spring game, but Tennessee coaches have never indicated whether anyone has an edge in the competition.
Georgia Tech’s depth chart lists juniors Matthew Jordan and TaQuon Marshall and redshirt freshmen Lucas Johnson and Jay Jones as potential starters. Jordan is the most experienced of the four and led the Yellow Jackets to a victory over Virginia Tech last season when former Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas was injured.
“I think I could call the game for any of them,” Johnson said. “We’ve tried to highlight what each of them do and go from there, and that’s why I’m not in any big hurry to tell everybody who it is. We may play all four of them in the first game. Who knows?”
The uncertain quarterback situations at both schools reflect a major change from the last few years. Thomas was a threeyear starter and the first three-time team captain in Georgia Tech history. Dobbs had 9,360 yards in career total offense to rank third on Tennessee’s all-time list.
Their replacements remain pretty much untested, aside from Jordan’s performance against Virginia Tech last year.
Marshall’s a converted running back who appeared in only two games as a reserve quarterback last season for Georgia Tech. Dormady is 24 of 39 for 357 yards in 10 career games but has generally appeared late in one-sided contests. Guarantano and the two redshirt freshmen for Georgia Tech haven’t played at all.