Tennessee's Loss to Georgia Proves Justin Worley Is Key to Vols' Success

Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley's heroics nearly led the Volunteers to an upset win against Georgia. But his hiatus is the reason they fell short.

The Vols narrowly lost to the Bulldogs 35-32 in Athens on Saturday in a game where they continued to discover positives about their young team.

But another thing became painfully obvious as well: The season is doomed without Worley.

The senior quarterback played the game of his career in the loss, but he also missed a stretch of about 16 minutes after getting drilled on the elbow by Jordan Jenkins' helmet with 10 minutes left in the third quarter and UT down 21-17.

With backup Nathan Peterman under center, the Vols wasted three possessions, running 19 plays for 50 yards and fumbling a zone-read exchange in field-goal range.

Worley dealt with the elbow issue, trotted to the locker room and returned ready to play. Tennessee immediately returned to the competition. The Daily Beacon's David Cobb shared Worley's comments about his injury:

With Worley—who completed 23 of 35 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns—the Vols offense was a completely different unit.

He tossed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and converted a two-point throw to keep UT in it, but an 11-point deficit proved too much. 

The Vols were awesome with Worley leading the team. Without him, they were awful.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Peterman beating out Joshua Dobbs for the backup job was a nice, feel-good offseason story, but he can't lead Tennessee to a strong SEC season. Under the same relentless pursuit from UGA's defenders that Worley thrived against, Peterman panicked.

As much as Worley has been pummeled by defenders so far this year, that's a scary proposition for a team starting five new offensive linemen, including two true freshmen.

That unit at times Saturday looked as if it were a sieve with red Georgia jerseys straining through it.  

Worley paid the price, but he didn't stay down. Both Tennessee Football and Rocky Top Insider provided tweets about Worley:

That's massive news for the Vols, who appear strong enough to compete with everybody they play, entering the meat of their schedule, starting with next week's game against Florida in Neyland Stadium.

Ending the nine-game losing streak to the Gators looks doable with Worley at the helm. Beating them—or any team of any consequence, for that matter—without him looks doubtful.

This is simply not a bowl team without Worley, a leader who has taken his share of shots this season but who hangs in the pocket and delivers play after play.

He doesn't get a ton of credit because he doesn't regularly put up big numbers, but he was the difference for the Vols in Athens. 

With an arm that still had to be somewhat numb, he re-entered the game and completed all three of his passes on his first drive back for 52 yards, including an NFL throw to Pig Howard that covered 31 yards for a touchdown. Fox Sports' Kris Budden was impressed by Worley's performance after returning to the game:

Then, he hit Daniel Helm on a two-point conversion to close the gap to three points.

Even after Jalen Hurd fumbled a handoff in the end zone that was recovered by Josh Dawson for a Georgia touchdown that ultimately clinched the game, Worley and the Vols weren't done.

He went 4-of-6 for 59 yards and completed a six-yard scoring strike to Marquez North to lead Tennessee right back into the game. 

An onside kick ended the rally, but Worley returning—and resoundingly responding—should give Tennessee some excitement, despite another gut-wrenching loss to its rival.

A year ago against Georgia, Worley proved he could be a serviceable SEC quarterback for the first time in his career. On Saturday, he proved he has the skills, savvy and leadership abilities to be a great one.

For a player who has been criticized and scrutinized as much as any Tennessee player since Jonathan Crompton, this performance (even in a loss) should silence the doubters. The Daily Times' Grant Ramey highlighted Worley's potential:

Worley is a warrior, and he's also a playmaker. He's the most important player to his team in the entire conference. 

He just has to stay off the sideline. Worley was sacked five times and treated like a Power T'd pinata at Oklahoma. He was punished again between the hedges, and the injury time he missed played a key role in UT ultimately losing to the Dawgs.

If Tennessee can't fix its offensive line issues and Worley somehow doesn't keep finding ways to take the punishment, getting to the postseason will have to wait another year.

The Vols have got to close the holes in a hurry.

The season depends on it.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics gathered from UTSports.com.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.