NORMAN, Okla. — Butch Jones has been searching for an “alpha male” quarterback of his team since he arrived on the Tennessee campus nearly two years ago to resurrect the football program.
He probably didn’t expect to find one face down in the dirt.
But on Saturday night in front of a national television audience and the sixth-largest crowd ever to see a game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, that’s where Justin Worley proved he fits the bill.
Though he spent much of the game picking himself up from the turf, Worley displayed the maturity UT needs from its quarterback if the Vols want to make a bowl game this year.
Compare the characteristics Worley displayed in UT’s loss to OU with the job qualifications Jones laid out prior to last season.
“We expect our quarterback to be the alpha male of the offense,” Jones said in July 2013, just days before a four-man quarterback competition started. “He is the leader. When things start going array, they’re all going to look to him. He’s the one who is in control.”
In a huddle with five veteran offensive linemen last season, it’s reasonable to think Worley might not have asserted all of those characteristics.
Now he has no choice.
And rather than showing discomfort in the role, Worley seems to have embraced it this year.
Maybe Jones already knew about the toughness, improved leadership and newly found confidence of his senior quarterback.
After the brutal beating Worley endured on Saturday, everyone else should too.
Through no fault of his own, Worley spent much of the game on the turf because of what may have been the worst performance by a UT offensive line since Y2K.
But Worley did not dish out any blame. In fact, hearing it from him makes the above paragraph – true as it is – seem like blasphemy.
“Our offensive line did a good job,” Worley said with an almost shocking tone of optimism Saturday night.
“There’s going to be ups and downs,” he continued, “and it’s how you bounce back from the downs that’s going to be a testament to the hard work we put in.”
Spoken like a true alpha male.
Even legendary Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops left the game impressed with Worley’s poise.
“I made sure I saw him after the game,” Stoops told reporters. “He is a really good quarterback. He throws it well and really showed a lot of toughness. I think he is going to have a really good year.”
Now the question is whether he can survive the year.
Unfortunately for the Vols, invincibility is not an alpha male characteristic.
David Cobb is a senior in journalism & electronic media. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidWCobb.
