KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee now has renewed hope for success down the home stretch of the 2014 football season. Maybe a bowl game is more a reality now than it was a week ago.
Why?
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs got on the field.
Dobbs, who hadn’t taken a snap all season, rallied the Vols from a 27-0 deficit and turned in a sterling performance to threaten fourth-ranked Alabama, which went on to win 34-20 before 102,455 fans at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
The sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., added much-needed spark with a strong arm and quick feet.
Dobbs completed 19-of-32 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns to Josh Malone and Von Pearson, and was the team’s leading rusher with 75 yards on 19 carries in what could become a Wally Pipp moment for the Vols.
“I feel like I played well,” said Dobbs, who hadn’t been in a game since a start against Kentucky in 2013, a game in which he threw for 192 yards with two touchdowns. “I was very confident and felt if we executed we could score some points. Our line did a good job of making holes for me. Some of my run plays were by design, some were read plays.”
With Dobbs in the lineup, Alabama’s defense wasn’t so sure they had the right plan of attack. Crimson Tide blitzers went one way on several plays, while the runner, either Hurd or Dobbs, took off the other direction. The stunts and blitzes slowed.
When there were no openings, Dobbs turned bad plays into gainers.
But when Tennessee (3-5, 0-4 Southeastern Conference) cut Alabama’s lead to 27-17, the Crimson Tide came up with the right response – Derrick Henry’s 28-yard touchdown run to cap a 76-yard, 13-play drive that chewed 5 minutes and 33 seconds off the clock.
“That was huge in the game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “That was a heck of a game for both teams. Rivalry game can be that way. You’ve got to give Tennessee’s guys a whole lot of credit because they sure didn’t flinch and they didn’t give up at all and they kept playing hard.”
Once on the field, Dobbs played like a grizzled veteran that he’s not.
His 75 yards rushing were the most by a Tennessee quarterback since Tee Martin ran for 81 against Syracuse in the 1998 opener, a win that launched the Vols’ national championship campaign.
This season won’t have that storybook ending, but Dobbs could help the Vols achieve a primary goal in reaching a bowl game. Tennessee has four games remaining, including next week’s matchup at South Carolina. Then come games with Kentucky and Missouri here and the regular season finale at Vanderbilt.
“I thought their quarterback (Dobbs) that came in really did a good job,” Saban said. “His athleticism gave us some problems and (we) had trouble containing him a few times.”
Dobbs completed passes to four different receivers, including six to Jalen Hurd (27 yards), four each to Marquez North (56) and Alton Howard (49) and three to Von Pearson (21).
“I thought Joshua provided a spark for us,” Vols coach Butch Jones said. “He adds another element in terms of the run game. Anytime you have a running quarterback, (it) poses another threat to the defense.
“I thought he was in command and showed some very good poise.”
Dobbs’ touchdown tosses to Malone and Pearson each covered 9 yards. Freshman place-kicker Aaron Medley added field goals of 27 and 24 yards.
As for who will be the Vols’ quarterback next week, Jones said, “We’ll continue to compete like we do. It’s just kind of the flow of the game with leaving (Dobbs) in. We felt we needed to run the quarterback a little more. That’s why we stayed with him.
“We’ll continue to rep Nathan Peterman and there is no timetable on Justin Worley right now, so we’ll be in a wait-and-see mode. We have to continue to build (on this game). Josh needs to be better next week, if he’s our quarterback.
“I think the live opportunities he got last year proved very beneficial. He has a lot of live game opportunities now this year.”
Worley, who has had an injury-plagued career, was hurt last week in a 34-3 loss to Ole Miss and was determined to be “unavailable” by Jones on Friday.
“He wasn’t anywhere (close to) ready,” Jones said.
Dobbs said on the Vol Network’s postgame radio show that one plan was to start Peterman for two series and Dobbs would take the third series. That’s how it played out, but Dobbs was on the field the rest of the game and directed the Vols to all 20 points, the most against Alabama in regulation since getting 20 in 2003. That game ended with Alabama winning, 51-43, in five overtimes.
Peterman was ineffective, producing just 10 yards of offense in two three-and-out series.
At times Dobbs was electric, save a couple of errant throws, including his lone interception, and one sack.
Despite Alabama (7-1, 4-1) winning for the eighth straight time in one of college football’s most storied rivalries, Dobbs’ performance begs the question: What took Jones so long to give him a chance?
After the Vols sliced the deficit to 10 points, Alabama drove 76 yards in 13 plays with T.J. Yeldon darting into the end zone from 28 yards out to put the Tennessee rally in moth balls.
The reason for hope down the stretch isn’t just about Dobbs. Tennessee’s defense, bullied the entire first quarter held its own over the final three periods. Alabama gained 253 yards in the first 15 minutes, but had only 216 the rest of the way.
But Alabama was, well, Alabama.
Blake Sims hit Amari Cooper on the Tide’s first play from scrimmage, which resulted in an 80-yard touchdown. The play used up a mere 13 seconds and the Tide had a 6-0 after Adam Griffith’s PAT kick was blocked.
“I knew we were going to run the play,” Cooper said. “I kind of thought the linebackers are going to blitz. I knew it was going to be a big gain, but I didn’t know I was going to score.”
The play, called by the hated Lane Kiffin, was a superbly executed play. Kiffin, who bolted from Tennessee for Southern Cal after just one tumultuous season, was booed heartily by Tennessee fans before the game
That same passing combination clicked again less than four minutes later for a 41-yard touchdown strike. Alabama’s lead went to 13-0.
Cooper was brilliant, snagging nine passes for a school-record for yardage in a game with 224 yards, breaking the old mark of 210 yards set by Julio Jones at Tennessee in 2010. He had five catches for 185 yards in the first quarter and six for 194 yards in the first half.
After Saturday’s performance, Cooper has 71 catches for 1,132 yards this season.
The Crimson Tide ended the first quarter with a 90-yard, nine-play drive that ended with T.J. Yeldon zipping into the end zone from 1 yard out for a 20-0 advantage.
Sims scored early in the second period on a 28-yard quarterback keeper right up the gut of Tennessee’s defense that put the Vols in a deep 27-point hole.
Then Dobbs started chipping away at the deficit.
He directed a 10-play, 84-yard scoring drive to finally put the Vols on the scoreboard with his toss to Malone.
At that point Tennessee had 111 rushing yards and finished with 181, the most allowed by Alabama’s hard-nosed defense all season.
Dobbs moved the Vols 59 yards in 12 plays, taking the final 3:53 off the clock, and Aaron Medley kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired.
The Vols signal caller caught Alabama by surprise.
“It was a different quarterback than we were expecting,” Tide defensive back Landon Collins said. “We had to adjust our calls and then expected more runs.”
Scoring Summary
Alabama 20 7 7 0 – 34
Tennessee 0 10 7 3 – 20
First Quarter
ALA — Amari Cooper 80 pass from Blake Sims (kick failed), 12:39
ALA – Cooper 41 pass from Sims (Adam Griffith kick), 8:55
ALA – T.J. Yeldon 1 run (Griffith kick), 3:12
Second Quarter
ALA – Sims 28 run (Griffith kick), 12:03
TEN – Josh Malone 9 pass from Joshua Dobbs (Aaron Medley kick), 7:03
TEN – FG Medley 27, 0:00
Third Quarter
TEN – Von Pearson 9 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 5:52
ALA – Yeldon 28 run (Griffith kick), 0:13
Fourth Quarter
TEN – FG Medley 24, 9:42
Attendance – 102,455
YARDSTICK
ALA TEN
First Downs 23 21
Rushes-Yards 41-183 43-181
Passing Yards 286 202
Att-Com-Int 14-24-0 21-36-1
Total Yards 65-469 79-383
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-1
Punts.-Avg. 4-42.8 5-41.8
Penalties-Yds. 6-50 4-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Alabama: Derek Henry 16-78, T.J. Yeldon 14-52, Blake Sims 6-42, Jalston Fowler 2-24; Tennessee: Joshua Dobbs 19-75, Jalen Hurd 16-59, Marlin Lane 3-48, Von Pearson 3-7.
PASSING — Alabama: Sims 14-24-0 80; Tennessee: Dobbs 19-32-1 192, Nathan Peterman 2-4-0 10.
RECEIVING — Alabama: Amari Cooper 9-224, DeAndrew White 4-59, Yeldon 1-3; Tennessee: Marquez North 4-56, Alton Howard 4-49, Hurd 6-27, Pearson 3-21.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)