Tennessee Volunteers Football: Vols Still Looking For Answers At QB

Sep 21, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Justin Worley (14) reacts after he made a incompletion on fourth down against the Florida Gators during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida Gators defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 31-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Nathan Peterman experiment, albeit brief, needed to happen.

If not for Peterman’s time under center on Saturday, Butch Jones and his staff would have no clue what they truly had in Peterman.

Practice doesn’t always tell the true story of a young man’s abilities.

While it’s not necessarily time to totally move on from Nathan Peterman, the Vols do need to try out their other options to gauge what they have.

I’m not saying this season doesn’t matter, because it does. The Vols desperately need to make a bowl game in order to have some momentum going into the 2014 signing period and the off-season. Even more important than a bowl game, however, is Jones getting his personnel in order and figuring out who his “guy” will be heading into 2014. You don’t want to start off next season with another quarterback battle, especially when it’ll be all the same guys battling for the job.

As far as next Saturday against South Alabama goes, Jones wouldn’t commit to Justin Worley as the starting quarterback. Jones admitted that the true freshmen will get a longer look this week.

"Jones: Worley and the true freshmen will be thrown the fire more…..Their development is going to be critical. Whoever plays the best this week will be the QB."

A lot of fans were calling for Riley Ferguson on Saturday, but Jones made the right call by not throwing him out to the wolves. Ferguson has never taken a snap in a college football game. Debuting him in that kind of environment could’ve been devastating to the 18 year old’s confidence.

A game against South Alabama is the the perfect environment to play one of your true freshmen. South Alabama is coming off a win over Western Kentucky, so they’re not a team that should be overlooked, but the Vols should be able to handle them fairly easily at home.

After watching all the highlights of Riley Ferguson and Josh Dobbs that youtube has to offer, in addition to the few practices that I’ve seen, I would go with Riley Ferguson against South Alabama.

Ferguson definitely has the best arm out of the quarterbacks and from what I can see from his high school highlights, he appears to be pretty accurate. Of course the highlight clips don’t show you his bad moments, but his throws appear to be pretty consistent.

At this point, Justin Worley might still be the team’s best option for right now, but he definitely isn’t the long term answer. Nathan Peterman is likely out of the discussion for now as well, due to injury.

Butch should go with Ferguson against South Alabama and see what the kid has. He’s a proven winner, that mentality can be contagious.

If Jones does go with Ferguson against South Alabama, I would temper expectations. He’s a true freshman that’s never played in a college game before, there will be growing pains. I do believe that Ferguson has the ability to be an SEC caliber starting quarterback, but I don’t think he’s going to set the world on fire in his first couple of starts.

At some point (very soon), Butch Jones will have to choose which of the true freshmen he’s going to play this season. All indications are that it’ll be Ferguson. If that’s the case then I’d fully expect Dobbs to redshirt this season. There’s no reason to burn a year of eligibility in what’s a probable 6-6 season, at best.

If Ferguson grabs a strong-hold on the job, then Vol fans need to get familiar with the idea of Dobbs transferring (the kid wants to start, you can’t blame him for transferring if he doesn’t get that chance at UT). I’m not saying Dobbs would positively transfer, but it’s definitely a possibility.

If Ferguson doesn’t take a strong-hold on the job, then I’d roll with Worley the rest of the season and have an open competition heading into next season. This obviously isn’t how you’d want this to pan out, but again you have accept that it’s a possibility.

The Vols will be playing their fifth game of the season this Saturday. Jones doesn’t need to keep flip-flopping quarterbacks, he doesn’t want to keep flip-flopping quarterbacks. Unfortunately that’s the reality that Jones has inherited. He will eventually get the quarterback situation worked out. It’s just going to take some time.

Butch Jones is a solid coach. He’s highly respected by his peers. He will get Tennessee turned around, no one doubts that. There are things out of Jones’ control (lack of talent) that will take some time to get in order.

Just be patient and in due time, Rocky Top will rise to the top.