What Vols QB Quinten Dormady wants to improve most heading into Georgia game

Butch Jones said there wasn’t a single play that caused him to swap out Quinten Dormady for Jarrett Guarantano for a portion of the second half Saturday against Massachusetts.

But if Dormady, the Vols' junior quarterback, could have one play back, he knows which one he’d choose. And it actually didn’t occur during the second half.

Dormady fumbled after running for what would’ve been first-down yardage on a read option during the first quarter. The Minutemen recovered.

“Having a turnover on the second drive of the game on my part, that kills the energy,” Dormady said Tuesday. “That’s probably part of the reason that we didn’t have much energy (on offense) going forward throughout that game.”

What do the numbers say?

One-third of the way through his first season as UT’s starting quarterback, Dormady’s performance has been at times encouraging and at other times incapacitating.

The fumble was Dormady’s fifth turnover in his past three games.

“I’ve been having too many turnovers, and I need to get that fixed,” Dormady said. “I’ll get that fixed.”

More:Who is Tennessee Vols quarterback Quinten Dormady?

Dormady ranks fourth in the SEC in passing yards per game (215.8). But his passing efficiency (128.2) ranks 12th in the conference, a byproduct of his four interceptions and a middling completion rate of 58.7 percent.

The Vols (3-1, 0-1 SEC) will host No. 8 Georgia (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS). Bulldogs freshman quarterback Jake Fromm ranks second in the SEC in passing efficiency.

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Jones turned to Guarantano late in the third quarter with the Vols leading UMass 17-13. Guarantano led three series that produced one first down.

“We weren’t playing up to our standard and didn’t have enough energy. We were kind of flat,” Dormady said of being subbed out. “That was Coach’s decision, and like I said going into the season, I’m just here to win games. Whatever the coaches think is best, we’ll go with that.”

Dormady's final play before being replaced by Guarantano was a third-and-5 from the UMass 22. He maneuvered outside the pocket and appeared to have a chance to run for a first down. Instead, he threw an incompletion in the direction of Ty Chandler, that, even if completed, wouldn’t have given the Vols a first down. UT settled for a field goal.

“Anybody can look back when they’ve got a clicker or a remote …, but, yeah, I think I probably would’ve taken off if I had it over again,” Dormady said.

Dormady returned midway through the fourth quarter. He finished 17-of-27 for 187 yards with a touchdown.

How much is on the QB's shoulders?

It's worth noting that on a day when the Vols scored a season-low 17 points against UMass, they also had their worst rushing output of the season.

“We’ve got to be able to run the football," Jones said. "Make no mistake about it. We cannot be a one-dimensional football team. We’re not built that way. We have to have great balance."

Jones rushed to his quarterbacks’ defense when asked Monday to evaluate their performance against UMass.

“I think there’s a lot more pressing topics than the quarterback conversation,” Jones said. “I think that’s just something that kind of the average person just looks at. … Quarterbacks are a byproduct of everyone around them.”

However, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Vols had the SEC’s leader in passing efficiency last season in Joshua Dobbs and also ranked second in the SEC in scoring offense.

Quality QB play goes a long way toward having a high-scoring offense.