After a week full of criticism following a horrid offensive performance against Florida, the Tennessee Volunteers needed someone to step up.
Justin Worley obliged.
The senior quarterback accounted for five touchdowns on Saturday – three passing and two rushing – leading the Vols to a 45-10 victory over the Chattanooga Mocs in UT’s homecoming game.
“I thought Justin was more aggressive in his mindset, in his thinking, in the way he played the game,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said. “He played confident, which is what we’re going to continue to need as we move forward.”
That aggressiveness was never more apparent than it was on Worley’s second touchdown of the day.
With the Vols already leading 10-0, the Rock Hill, South Carolina, native faked the handoff to redshirt junior running back Justus Pickett and took off to the right side of the field where he met Chattanooga’s Cedric Nettles.
But instead of going to the turf quietly, Worley bounced off the 6-foot,190-pound defensive back. Moments later, he was diving into the end zone to extend the Vols lead to 17.
The rushing score was the first of a pair of touchdowns on the ground for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound signal caller, who became the first UT quarterback to run for multiple scores since Casey Clausen did it against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2002.
“Any way I can help the team, I’d like to, whether it’s rushing or throwing,” Worley said. “Being able to get those two on the ground was big for me to kind of say, ‘Look, follow me. I’ve got you.'”
Worley finished the day with 198 yards – 174 of which came in the first half – on 19-of-24 passing.
Saturday proved to be a statement game for the Vols’ defense as well, especially in the first half, as the squad only allowed the Mocs to pick up 40 yards and three points.
After allowing Florida to rattle off 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter last week, the stonewall start for the Vols’ defense was just what the doctor ordered.
“Florida was a hurtful loss, and it hurt bad,” senior linebacker A.J. Johnson said. “Every week is a new week, though. A theme of ours is one. Last week is over. This week we came out prepared and ready to go. Everyone did their job, and we came out with a victory.”
The victory pushes the Vols back to .500 on the season and gives them some much needed confidence after losing three consecutive games.
But after a fairly easy road to their third win on the season, the Vols face yet another gauntlet of games, traveling to Oxford to battle the Ole Miss Rebels next week and following that with a home matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“We’re 3-3 midway and have been in some very close games,” Jones said. “It’s going to be a mental grind coming up in just staying focused on the process and not letting any outside distractions or clutter kick in and just focus on winning every single moment, every single day.
“The goal of this team has not changed since August: our goal is to be the best possible football team we can possibly be, no more, no less and we’ll continue to work to that.”
Graphic Courtsey of Samantha Smoak/The Daily Beacon
