With a microphone in front of him, water bottle to his left and a seated throng of media members below him, Justin Worley answered several questions in a row on Monday.
Then, finally, some relief came in the form of a question asked to Ja’Wuan James, the player UT’s junior quarterback shared the stage with.
James is a senior charged with protecting the quarterback as the right tackle on UT’s offensive line, so he is familiar with how Worley performed and commanded the huddle in the team’s 45-0 drubbing of Austin Peay on Saturday.
“You could tell as the game went on that he got a little swag in him,” James said as a slight smile came to Worley’s face. “He just started playing, and I like the way he is playing, and I like his leadership.”
After competing for the starting job throughout fall camp against three freshman quarterbacks, Worley played the entire first half against the Governors before watching the second half with most of UT’s other starters.
Though his final line featured just two incompletions in 13 attempts, he found areas to critique himself in preparation for Saturday’s 12:21 p.m. game against Western Kentucky.
“There were a few throws that I missed,” Worley said. “I missed targets that could have ended up being big plays. I missed Marquez (North) twice, a little bit behind him both times. I think that is just trying to get a feel for his route running.”
Worley said timing with UT’s young receivers will come with continued repetition in practice, something the Rock Hill, S.C., native should get plenty of considering UT’s coaches seem to have settled on him as the starter for now.
As for directing the offense in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, Worley also felt the same increase in command that James noticed in him as the game progressed.
“I felt comfortable out there and each and every series I gained a little bit more confidence,” Worley said. “After being in the flow of the game for a little while, you start to get in a rhythm and I felt good out there.”
Paging Marcus Jackson
During fall camp, junior Marcus Jackson battled Alex Bullard for the left guard slot on UT’s talented offensive line. Ultimately, Bullard won the job, but Jackson is listed second on the depth chart at the position.
Despite being one of few reserves with extensive game experience on the offensive line, he did not play against Austin Peay, and head coach Butch Jones did not rule out the possibility of redshirting Jackson on Monday.
“Well, I think that was an opportunity to get some other players some valuable reps, and we will continue to address Marcus’ situation as we continue to move forward,” Jones said. “It is nothing that he has done; he has had a great training camp, but I think it was an opportunity for other individuals, to see what they can do.”
Keep it straight
Despite statistically stellar performances from running backs Raijon Neal and Marlin Lane in the opener, Jones is not pleased with the state of the Vols’ running game.
“I thought we left a lot of yards out there,” Jones said.
There are no major changes on the UT depth chart heading into the Western Kentucky game. Neal remains listed as the first-team tailback with Lane and Tom Smith following behind.
Jones added, “I want to be a football team that hits it vertically, and has the ability to make someone miss and then hit it and go north and south, run behind your pads.”
