Tennessee quarterbacks Harrison Bailey, Hendon Hooker and Brian Maurer are about to share the biggest stage of the Josh Heupel era until the Volunteers kick off their 2021 football season against visiting Bowling Green on Sept. 4.
Saturday afternoon's Orange & White spring game inside Neyland Stadium will be an opportunity to view and then react to how the quarterbacks perform - and potentially overreact as well. After all, their performances will be relived in the weeks and months ahead courtesy of multiple SEC Network replays.
"How it gets written about and talked about is out of my control, and it's out of their control," Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh said Thursday night. "All we can control is how we play one play at a time."
The Vols went through their 13th spring practice Thursday afternoon and will release the format plans today for Heupel's first spring contest in Knoxville.
Golesh has been rolling all three quarterbacks with the first, second and third teams since spring drills started last month. Bailey started the final three games last season as a true freshman, while Maurer made four starts as a true freshman for the 2019 Vols but was used sparingly last season.
Hooker is a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech who made 15 starts the past two seasons.
"I think all three have shown a bunch of growth in their own ways," Golesh said. "As we've gone, we've kind of fine-tuned things to each guy's skill set. It's been daily growth, but there have been ups and downs a little bit as we've installed more. There have been days when we have really been excited, and there have been days when we have wanted to see more growth.
"Individually, though, all three of those guys have done a really, really good job of soaking it in and not making the same mistake twice, which we've really hit home at every spot but that one specifically."
Golesh is leading Heupel's push for a fast-paced attack, and he said the offense made a noticeable jump in the second scrimmage compared to the first one. He is hoping for a similar jump Saturday and then again during the early stages of preseason camp.
Before the start of spring practice, Golesh described the quarterback race as a "six-month process," but Saturday could yield a result and a perception that could last almost that long.
"I guess I haven't really thought about an overreaction," Golesh said. "For us, it's going to be a scrimmage, and it's going to be an opportunity for guys to go play in front of people. I'm excited to be able to see all those guys roll in there and do what they do. There will be people there and there will be TV, so that's awesome for us.
"We just want to go out and play how we want to play and be able to execute at a really high rate. Whoever the quarterback that's in there, we'll try to maximize his ability within those drives."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.