Josh Heupel waiting for 'separation' in Volunteers quarterback competition

Tennessee is nearing decision time. The Volunteers held their second and final scrimmage of fall camp on Tuesday in the rain, providing another opportunity for coach Josh Heupel to evaluate Harrison Bailey, Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker and Michigan transfer Joe Milton.

All three quarterbacks impressed, as Heupel was happy with their execution and decision making, especially in wet conditions. There’s been little to no separation in the quarterback race.

“There really weren’t a ton of turnovers last week,” Heupel said after Tuesday’s scrimmage. “The weather really had very little effect, for the most part. I thought the quarterbacks handled the weather (and) were able the throw the ball efficiently and effectively. I thought our wide receivers did a pretty good job. (We) didn’t have any center-quarterback issues. It was really pretty good.”

Status of Tennessee quarterback competition

Heupel has not come close to announcing a starting quarterback or stating if there has been any separation.

Bailey was a four-star prospect coming out of high school. Now a sophomore, he started the final three games last season over Jarrett Guarantano, who transferred to Washington State after the season. Bailey threw for 578 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions in six games.

Meanwhile, Milton and Hooker each transferred to Knoxville this offseason when Heupel took the job. Hooker started seven games at Virginia Tech last season, throwing for 1,339 yards and nine touchdowns. He tallied nine rushing touchdowns on the ground, too.

Milton started at quarterback for Michigan last season before being pulled after five games. He struggled with his accuracy, however, with just a 56.7% completion percentage and four touchdowns. He has delivered so far in fall camp, competing for the job.

The three quarterbacks have been working together in camp, too.

“When we see separation (and) we are ready to say something, I’ll come back here and do that,” Heupel said. “That group has continued to compete and handle things the right way, and I like the growth of that group from day-to-day. You just look from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage who they are and over the course of the practices leading up to today, that group is continuing to trend in the right direction.”

Scrimmage preparing for fall gamedays

Tennessee won the Gator Bowl in 2019, finishing with an 8-5 record. But the Volunteers have struggled to seriously contend in the SEC for years; they last won the conference title in 1998.

Heupel is the fifth coach to give it a try. His UCF offenses averaged 44.3 points per game last season. He’s tasked with turning around a Tennessee offense that averaged just 21.5 points per game last season.

Tuesday’s scrimmage helped get the Volunteers’ offense adjusted to playing in the rain.

“Gameday, you wake up (and) no matter what the weather report has said throughout the course of the week, you’ve got to play in the elements that you’ve got,” Heupel said. “We will play in a rain game, so your mindset – offense, defense, special teams – has to be that this is the right weather for us to go out and execute. It has no bearing on who we are and what we do and how we do it. I thought we really functioned at a pretty high level on that side of the football.

“Now, I got to continue to see those guys compete, obviously, we’ll go back later today and have an opportunity to watch the scrimmage. I think those guys have all continued to grow during the course of this three-day block before we got into our scrimmage today.”