Justin Worley named starting quarterback for Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers named senior Justin Worley as the team’s starting quarterback, beating out Nathan Peterman and Joshua Dobbs for the job, according to head coach Butch Jones who delivered the news at the Vols media day on Thursday.
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Worley began last season as the starter before losing his job to Peterman for the game at Florida last year, but got the job back after Peterman was lost to a thumb injury against the Gators.
The 6-4, 224-pound signal-caller led Tennessee to a near-upset over Georgia when the Vols lost a heart breaker to the Bulldogs 34-31 in overtime but one week later led the team to an upset win over South Carolina at Neyland Stadium in a 23-21 win over the Gamecocks.
Worley was particularly impressive late on the game-clinching drive when he connected with Marquez North for a big gain.
However, one week later Worley found himself out of the job again as Dobbs finished the game against Alabama and started the remainder of the season.
JONES: @WorleyBird_14 has earned the right to the be starting QB. I believe Justin is playing the best football he's played in a long time.
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) August 14, 2014
JONES: @WorleyBird_14 has been a leader, he's been very vocal. When you manage the football, it's a matter of seconds. He's managed that.
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) August 14, 2014
JONES: @WorleyBird_14 has experience in the SEC and we're going to need that w/ our young football team.
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) August 14, 2014
The Vols will need Worley to be a strong leader in addition to being an effective quarterback with five new starters on the offensive line, young receivers in North, Josh Malone and Von Pearson and freshman running back Jalen Hurd in line to receive a big share of the carries.