Dormady’s Progression
Quinten Dormady didn’t get off to a great start. But as the game progressed, the junior quarterback got into a rhythm.
In the first half, Dormady didn’t do a good job of going through his progressions. In this example on the first drive, Tennessee goes three-and-out when Dormady telegraphs this pass to Tyler Byrd.
UT struggled on its first few drives. Dormady stares down his primary receiver, throws into dangerous coverage on 3rd down. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/hDVx5LcqoU
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2017
The corner is shading Byrd to the inside, and both linebackers are lurking below the route. Plus, the strong safety is in the area as well.
If this throw is on target, it’s probably picked off. Since Dormady looks down Byrd the whole way, the linebacker does a good job following his eyes. He’s covering the underneath route, but breaks off to bat down the pass when he notices Dormady looking down Byrd.
In the second half, Tennessee made adjustments. On this play, Larry Scott decides to move the pocket in order to give Dormady more time and make him more comfortable.
Good play call here to move the pocket and give Dormady more time. Also some excellent pass blocking from John Kelly. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/Q0SGpxUmhu
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2017
In order to give Dormady more confidence, Tennessee relied heavily on underneath passes. Josh Palmer goes in motion before the play, which distracts the linebacker. But UT also did a good job creating chaos.
Palmer “rubs” the defensive back, which isn’t a penalty as long as he stays in his route. That allows Ethan Wolf to escape out into the flat for an easy pitch and catch. Dormady makes a nice throw on the run, giving the Vols an easy first down.
Throughout the game, Dormady threw behind receivers consistently. A large part of that was due to his footwork, which was sloppy for most of the night. The junior threw off his back foot, and didn’t step into all of his throws.
These two touchdown passes happened because Marquez Callaway did an excellent job breaking on the ball. Dormady did enough to score, but he was bailed out by two outstanding catches.
#RTIFilmStudy Callaway's first touchdown — Dormady doesn't step into the throw, but still delivers a beautiful ball to get UT within a TD. pic.twitter.com/2tasMh7WO9
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2017
#RTIFilmStudy Dormady launches a deep ball off balance, Callaway goes up and gets it. Tatum gives QD just enough time to throw. pic.twitter.com/nsV7sBWKLV
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 5, 2017
Callaway perfectly high points the ball in both of these scenarios. Dormady’s throw on the fade pattern is right on the money, which is impressive considering his footwork. He takes a tiny step into the throw, which is fine if you’re throwing a fade on the one yard line. But this throw was across the field from ten yards out.
Thankfully for Tennessee, both of these off balance throws ended up caught. But defenses are going to be keying in more on Callaway. Georgia Tech didn’t worry much about him because he only caught one pass last season. With more safety help over the top, Dormady’s throws will have to be more crisp. You can’t always count on Callaway to win a jump ball.
