Tennessee receiver Dont’e Thornton’s transformation from being a questioned, doubted and injured slot receiver to being a potential game-changing wide receiver was based on many things. The most important was all on him.
“A ton of relentless hard work,” fellow receiver Bru McCoy said when asked about Thornton after he caught three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns in a 69-3 win against Chattanooga on Saturday. “Just grinding, working hard every single day, finding ways just to improve himself. It’s been awesome to see and it’s driven me and pushed me to be better.”
It will also likely make Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava better, who was fantastic against the Mocs on Saturday. The redshirt freshman has plenty of receivers to throw to, but Thornton, who transferred from Oregon last season, is a unique blend of speed and size that the Vols don’t have anywhere else.
“You could just see how much more comfortable Dont’e got with this offense,” Iamaleava said. “Just his first year (was) going into last year, still figuring things out. I feel like he was dialed in this whole fall camp, spring camp. He’s been great, great work that he’s put in. He went out there and showed it on the field.”
He certainly did. Thornton caught three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns after a season that left a bit to be desired last season. Thornton was a highly regarded prospect for Tennessee that never seemed to find his way in the offense last year before suffering a season-ending injury against Missouri in November.
As hard as Thornton worked, some of his production on Saturday should be credited to Tennessee’s coaching staff. The Vols envisioned Thornton as a receiver that could replace former Vol Jalin Hyatt, who won the Biletnikoff Awards as the nation’s best receiver in 2022. That was a big ask.
Thornton was a fish out of water last season as Tennessee tried to play him more on the outside than in the slot position when he arrived on campus. Now, Thornton is in a more comfortable position with the ability to play slot receiver if duty calls. Thornton told Off The Hook Sports in a preseason interview that he was more comfortable playing on the outside than where Hyatt once ruled.
Given his hard work and Tennessee’s coaches’ offseason adjustment in how to utilize Thornton, the junior wasn’t surprised to have a breakout game on Saturday, even if it was a year later than fans had hoped for.
“I feel like this is the game that I expected to have,” Thornton said. “So I felt very good.”
Feel good. Play good. That certainly seemed to be the case against Chattanooga. Now, we’ll see how things work out against a more formidable opponent when the Vols play North Carolina State in Charlotte on Saturday.
