Quinten Dormady has some big shoes to fill this season at Tennessee. The former Boerne High quarterback entered Monday’s game taking over for veteran Joshua Dobbs, who is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dormady’s first career start was on a big stage for a signal caller who threw for nearly 6,000 yards over his career and was considered one of the top-rated pro style quarterbacks in the country.
After a shaky first half in his first career start, Dormady was able to settle in and make big throws when needed. His play helped Volunteers overcome a 21-7 deficit in the second half en route to a 42-41 double overtime win over Georgia Tech.
“My blood pressure never went up,” said Dormady to SEC Country reporter Mike Griffith following the game. “We knew we would get our shots. We just needed to start executing.”
Dormady’s first career start was on a big stage for a signal caller who was considered one of the top-rated pro style quarterbacks in the county.
With Georgia Tech’s triple option offense, opportunities for Tennessee’s offense would be limited and as the first half played on, Dormady and the Vols had a difficult time finding an offensive rhythm. The junior was just 8-of-20 passing for 52 yards in the first half but some of those incompletions could be attributed to drops from the receivers.
There was also some question as to whether head coach Butch Jones would stick with Dormady or change over to the redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano. The head coach did say prior to the game that playing both quarterbacks would be a possibility.
Jones ultimately decided to stick with the more-experienced Dormady during the game and he was rewarded as he wound up finishing 12-of-17 passing for 169 yards in the second half and overtime with two touchdown passes, including this one to Marquez Calloway who became his go-to target in the second half.
Marquez Callaway with a heckuva touchdown catch to bring Tennessee within a score. Nice block by Jack Jones — now at right tackle. pic.twitter.com/wjdcTQbeL2
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) September 5, 2017
It was far from a perfect game from Dormady, but he did enough to help his team get a win. Even with Dobbs gone, expectations still remain high in Knoxville as the Vols look to get back to the SEC Championship game. There’s a lot to figure out before that point to Atlanta, but Dormady should be a major key that will determine how far Tennessee can go in 2017.
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