Tennessee’s assistant coaches made it abundantly clear; Joshua Dobbs’ presence in the offense made a difference for the Volunteer’s offense.
Following two consecutive SEC contests in which they failed to score a touchdown, Dobbs led the UT offense to scores on three consecutive drives, resulting in 17 unanswered points to trim Alabama’s lead to 27-17.
Dobbs’ insertion into the signal caller role, however, had an effect on more than just the scoreboard.
“He helps us a lot,” wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni said. “He is able to get us out of some trouble when we need it. It forces you to not have to be so perfect on everything. It’s nice, and we know Josh has some legs back there, so our scramble rules come into effect.”
The sophomore quarterback, who finished Saturday’s game with 267 yards from scrimmage, lent the biggest helping hand to the Tennessee offensive unit that needed it most.
After allowing 30 sacks through UT’s first seven matchups, Dobbs’ mobility gave his offensive line the time they needed to allow the offense to move the ball down the field.
“Josh, a couple of times, made us right when we were wrong by using his legs and some other things that he did,” offensive line coach Don Mahoney said.
And with senior quarterback Justin Worley in the process of recovering from an injury to his throwing shoulder, Dobbs may be asked to make that impact again.
On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian stated that Worley would be unable to step under center if the Vols were to play South Carolina today.
Trench temperament: The question drew a sigh of relief from Mahoney.
“How much did the offensive line need a game where they could see some positive numbers?”
After tying a season-low in sacks allowed with two against Alabama, and blocking well enough to help the Vols reach a season-high 181 rushing yards, Mahoney expressed just how important a game like that was.
“It was huge,” Mahoney said. “It’s been such a tough go week in and week out with the results that have been taking place. We’ve been coming to work every day and it’s kind of a beat down. Just the feeling of ‘are we ever going to see those positive results happen,’ and for that reason, I was happy.
“I’ve been saying all along how hard they’ve been working as a group and to see some of that work pay off was good to have happen for them.”
But even after breaking the streak of successive bad games, the storylines for the offensive line have yet to die down.
With starters Marcus Jackson and Coleman Thomas sidelined for the Vols contest versus the Crimson Tide, the story has been whether or not the two will be able to suit up against South Carolina on Saturday.
Jackson, who has started at left guard in seven games this season, has been a full participant in each of the Vols practices this week and looks to be on track to return to the starting lineup. Thomas on the other hand returned to practice on Wednesday after rehabbing his injured left ankle at the beginning of the week.
“He (Thomas) is moving around well,” Mahoney said. “He’s progressing. He’s working hard at getting better each and every day. We’re just going to take it one day at a time and thank goodness it’s a night game. That’s even that much more time for rehab and rest.”
After such a solid performance, however, the question becomes how do the Vols balance who plays along the line against the Gamecocks?
“It’s about your performance and how you practice, and all those things determine how much you are going to play,” Mahoney said. “At the start of the season, I said to the group, ‘look, we are going to have to count on each and everyone of us at some point in time in throughout the season.’
“I didn’t necessarily think it was going to turn out like this, but from a competitive standpoint, I wanted it to be that, so it’s been that way the last two days of practice.”
