Justin Worley was on the winning side of a 32-point shellacking in which the opposing quarterback threw five interceptions.
Yet, there he was in the postgame news conference, defending his own performance.
“I wouldn’t say I was struggling,” Worley said.
Worley completed 11 of 19 passes for 142 yards in the Vols’ 52-20 victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. He completed only three passes in the first half. He threw an interception in the second.
Those are not the kind of numbers to put on a resume.
But Worley and his coaches say the offense was constrained by bizarre circumstances, quick drives and some drops in the first half that prevented the quarterback and his receivers from getting in a rhythm.
“We had a couple of three-and-outs. The defense was giving us a short field. In the second half, we got the opportunity to drive the ball 80 yards a couple of times,” Worley said.
In the second half, Worley connected with Johnathon Johnson on passes of 20 and 37 yards. The latter was the longest completion of Tennessee’s young season.
Worley missed on other potential long balls, like he did in the opener against Austin Peay. But much like last week, it wasn’t always clear if the blame belonged to Worley or his young receivers.
But it was clear that at least a handful of times receivers were waiting for a pass to come down rather than catching the ball in stride.
UT coach Butch Jones said Worley needs to err on the side of throwing too long on deep balls, but he also wants to see his receivers be more aggressive.
“I think our young wideouts have to do a better job of going and snatching the ball, owning the ball in the air,” Jones said. “That will be a point of emphasis this week. We have to have the mentality to own the ball in the air.”
Worley is 22-for-32 for 246 yards and four touchdowns in two games. His game management has been praised, even if the big plays are lacking.
Backup Nathan Peterman entered in the fourth quarter and handed off the ball as he worked with the second team. Freshmen Riley Ferguson and Josh Dobbs haven’t seen the field, and it’s hard to imagine they will in the next two weeks at Oregon and at Florida unless there is some sort of package designed for them.
So there’s no quarterback controversy here. The job is Worley’s, and coaches have his back.
“He’s going through the maturation phase of really being a starting quarterback,” Jones said.
That maturation will get a big test in Oregon, which is one of the loudest atmospheres in college football.
But Worley has been in tough spots before, going back to his freshman season when he was tossed into action with little notice. He’s convinced the Vols have yet to reach their potential on offense.
We didn’t really bring our A game today,” Worley said. “We had flashes of good and bad. We just have to progress.”
