Tennessee Volunteers Football: Freshmen QB’s Are “Game Ready”

Oct 5, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones on the sideline against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

If nothing else, Justin Worley’s performance against Georgia quieted the masses that have been calling for a true freshmen to see some game action.

Worley, who played his best game of the season against Georgia, will be the Vols’ starter the rest of the season, unless there’s an injury or he regresses tremendously in his next couple of starts.

However, with Nathan Peterman injured, there’s a realistic chance that one of the true freshmen, Riley Ferguson or Josh Dobbs, could be forced into game action.

As the Vols have seen the past couple of weeks against Georgia and Florida, injuries can strike at any time.

Tennessee has to be prepared if Justin Worley was to go down.

According to Vols offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian, the true freshmen are game-ready.

"They have been game ready for a while. The question is, you don’t know how well they will execute in those pressure situations until they are put in those situations. From a skill standpoint, from a knowledge standpoint they have a firm grasp. Now will it all trigger when the lights go on? That is the question."

In a perfect world, the Vols are able to become bowl eligible and redshirt both of the true freshmen, preserving another year of eligibility for each.

But as we all know, rarely do things go exactly as planned.

The Vols need to have their freshmen QB’s ready to go, just in case.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know just how ready any player is, until they see live game-action for the first time.