And it seems like the staff is confident in him, too.
How many times have you seen a backup quarterback come in and look super timid? Time and time again the backup comes in and becomes ‘checkdown Charlie,’ just trying not to make a mistake.
Tennessee does not have that problem.
Gaston Moore, who has been with Josh Heupel for the entirety of his college football career, isn’t lacking knowledge of Tennessee’s offense. He might know it better than anyone at this point, which probably explains his supreme confidence in his arm and aggressive decision making.
We’re talking about a guy that came in off the bench for one snap against Alabama in a key spot, immediately took his shot down the field and was promptly picked off. Completely unwavered for his next opportunity, he continued with that same confidence against Mississippi State, and perhaps more importantly, the playcalling certainly didn’t seem to change with Moore in the game.
Gaston Moore—the entire fanbase is in awe and inspired by you.
Just a quick cut with limited footage, but I hope you enjoy. This song is forever burned in my mind now btw…#GastonMooreFanForLife pic.twitter.com/ShmbqqAKlJ
— I’m VolCoug Aight (@volcoug) November 10, 2024
Moore relieved Iamaleava to open the second half. He finished 5-8 for 38 yards, but took several shots down the field to keep the defense honest. One of those deep throws ended up resulting in a defensive pass interference call to move the chains.
“Good to see him go operate the way that we know he can,” Heupel said. “Was a smart decision-maker, aggressive when it was time. Controlled everything from clock, play-calls, checks — did a really good job. When the guys found out he was going in, like they were excited for him and they believe in him, you know, so they went out and played the way they needed to to make his job easier for him, too.”
The redshirt senior has been in focus this week with the injury situation of starter Nico Iamaleava, who is dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Tennessee has a massive game on Saturday with a chance to essentially eliminate Georgia from playoff contention. The Volunteers would also keep their SEC Championship hopes alive with a win.
“I think the biggest thing is we have a lot of confidence in Gaston,” Tennessee center Cooper Mays said. “We didn’t really skip a beat mentally or physically, so yeah just next guy up mentality and I think Gaston’s been ready for that all year.”
Could it be Gaston Moore getting the call in Tennessee’s biggest moment of the year? We likely won’t know the answer to that question until Saturday. However, for better or worse, we’ve seen that this offense isn’t going to change with him in the game — and Moore is going to push the ball down the field whenever he gets the opportunity.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.