After an unproductive offensive possession by UT in the second half of their 31-24 win over South Alabama on Saturday, boos rained down from the bleachers of Neyland Stadium.
Frustrated with the performance of quarterback Justin Worley, some Vol fans expressed their displeasure with UT’s junior signal caller out loud.
James Stone didn’t think about the booing when it happened, but after the game the UT center made a point of reassuring Worley.
“I just told him, ‘stay positive, we’ve got your back,'” Stone explained Monday. “It’s a team and we’re brothers, so we’re going to have his back throughout anything.”
The encouraging words are not exclusive to the offensive huddle, either.
On what Butch Jones dubbed “Positive Monday,” the first-year coach used his weekly press luncheon to diatribe on the good he saw in the Vols’ narrow victory over their Sun Belt foe.
“I think in the world that we live in today everyone wants to focus on negativity, but let’s focus on the positives,” Jones said before rattling off a list of the good UT has done in 2013.
The first thing he named was Rajion Neal’s performance on Saturday. The UT senior ran for 169 yards, the most of any UT running back in a game since 2009.
Heading into Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game with No. 6 Georgia, a quarterback switch is unlikely given that Worley’s replacement would be a true freshman with no game experience.
But Jones is pleased with what he has seen from UT’s running game, and Neal may shoulder an even greater load against the Bulldogs as backfield mate Marlin Lane remains day-to-day because of a “lower extremity injury.”
“Can’t say enough about Rajion Neal,” Jones said. “He stepped it up when he needed to step it up. When we needed him, he stepped it up and he played his best game to date.”
Georgia ranks sixth in the SEC in rushing defense, but the Bulldogs played three top-10 opponents in their first four games.
At 3-1, they have been tested, with their only loss coming against No. 3 Clemson in the season’s opening week.
Jones emphasized the importance of Neal turning in another big day if the Vols are to stand a chance against their second SEC opponent of the year.
“He’s showed some bursts and acceleration,” Jones said. “He made individuals miss. Obviously moving forward against a talented Georgia defense, we’re going to need his durability and we’re going to need some play making ability.”
As for the possibility that it’s anyone other than Worley handing Neal the ball, Jones remained adamant about the process that freshmen quarterbacks Riley Ferguson and Joshua Dobbs must go through before being ready for live-game action.
“As much as everyone wants to see them,” Jones said, “it’s my job and it’s my responsibility to them, to their parents and to our football program to not put them in, if given that luxury, until they’re ready.”
Redshirt freshman Nathan Peterman started in UT’s SEC opener – a 31-17 loss to Florida – but struggled and broke his throwing hand in the process.
Worley played the second half against the Gators and started against South Alabama like he did in the first three games of the year.
“We know what he goes through,” Stone said of Worley. “It’s not all him. This offense is a unit. When something bad happens it falls on all of us.”
