Tennessee football: Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker should split time vs. Tennessee Tech

Let’s be clear right off the jump. Tennessee football has a starting quarterback competition that should be as wide open right now as it was at the beginning of fall camp. The Vols have the perfect game against an FCS opponent to somewhat sort out the situation as well.

After Joe Milton III got hurt last week, Hendon Hooker came in and made a lot of the throws Milton missed by demonstrating better mobility. However, he made a bad decision on a 4th and 1 RPO and then threw an ill-advised interception the next drive. Both cost his team touchdowns.

Despite his accuracy issues, Milton would never have made that mistake. So at this point, we know what the differences between Milton and Hooker are. Now, against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, we need to know the differences between Hooker and Harrison Bailey.

Look, there’s no reason to play Milton in this game if he’s even a little hurt. He still could be Tennessee football’s best quarterback in what is a not-so-clear race. If that’s true, it’s not by much, and why risk further hurting your best quarterback in an easy, meaningless game that is a sure win?

Milton lacks accuracy but has good mobility and decision making. On the other hand, Hooker lacks decision-making but has good mobility and accuracy. We know that Bailey lacks mobility. However, he does have accuracy. This is the perfect chance for us to see his decision-making. Simply put, Josh Heupel can get a better read on both Hooker and Bailey in this game.

Now, TTU is hardly the team that’ll give you a good read on how good your quarterback is, but the Bowling Green Falcons are just as bad, and we saw quite a few negatives from Milton in that game. Simply put, weaknesses can be exposed, even against bad teams.

With the quarterback race once again wide open, Heupel needs to take advantage of it this weekend and narrow things down. Milton is hurt, but he’s not out of the picture. It’s just the perfect reason to not play him this weekend and see how Hooker and Bailey compare.

Whichever quarterback plays better could win the chance to be in a race with Milton next week to start against the Florida Gators. The chance to give two of the guys, including one who hasn’t played yet, significant action this weekend could sort out a lot of things.

This quarterback race is very unique for Tennessee football because all three bring different strengths. However, Heupel was hired because he’s a quarterback guru, so he should be able to maximize those strengths. Figuring out who gives him the best chance to do that for themselves is tough, but he has a chance to get one step closer to that this weekend.