'Relief' not causing Tennessee Vols' O-line to relax

photo Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) takes off on a fourth-down play, with seconds left on the clock, to score a 36-yard touchdown at South Carolina last Saturday.

KNOXVILLE - Between the 344 rushing yards and the zero sacks allowed, Tennessee's offensive line probably felt pretty good about itself this week, particularly after the brutal two months it endured.

If anything, it appears the numbers and the performance from the Volunteers' overtime win at South Carolina last week are serving as fuel for the group.

"When you win, sometimes you put blinders on and you think everything's OK, when really there's things that we've got to clean up," Tennessee offensive line coach Don Mahoney said after Wednesday's practice. "We've got to get the third-and-1s. That can't stop us. We've got to win that battle. We've got to maintain the momentum that we're gaining.

"Second-level blocking needed to be better by us. Jalen Hurd makes a great run, or Von Pearson or Josh Dobbs breaks clean, well, if we can eliminate a possible hit, or our guy makes a great play, that falls on us. We can't lose sight of that. We keep that in check with them."

photo Tennessee offensive line coach Don Mahoney is heading into the season with a younger unit.

Just three games ago, Tennessee's offensive line was overwhelmed by an Ole Miss defensive line that's among the best in the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels piled up seven sacks and held the Vols to zero net rushing yards. At that point, Tennessee was next-to-last nationally in sacks allowed with 30.

In the two games since that night in Oxford, Tennessee ran for 525 yards -- the total was 658 for the first seven games -- and surrendered just two sacks, both against Alabama.

Much of the credit goes to Josh Dobbs, the sophomore quarterback who has changed the offense with his running ability. Hurd, the freshman tailback and former five-star recruit, has played his part with 269 all-purpose yards the past two games, but Dobbs has given defenses another runner to worry about and shown an ability to escape pressure.

"Josh has done a tremendous job coming in and prepared into all that we've done," freshman guard Jashon Robertson said. "He's done a good job of managing the offense as far as tempo and how everything goes and making big plays. It's been real nice for Josh to have the type of start he's had. He's just done a great job."

An offensive line that started its fifth different combination against South Carolina deserves its share of the kudos.

"It meant a lot to us," Robertson said. "We've just tried to stick together and mold and work hard in practice and do the best that we could to fix a lot of the little things and everything. Of course we haven't arrived or anything. We still have a lot of stuff that we can improve on, that we're going to continue to improve on.

"We're just looking forward to winning this bye week and playing next week."

Mahoney was encouraged by how his group practiced Wednesday.

"(It was) like we didn't accomplish a thing the other night, which is good," he said. "That sent a message, just the way they practiced, that, like I told them, we haven't accomplished a thing. Let's just keep working, keep our minds right, and we'll see where we're at at the end of the year.

"That's two back-to-back games to build on, to learn from and to continue to progress and not get too high or get too low. I think (it's) just staying grounded and keep plugging away."

Of course, Tennessee's offensive line was far from perfect against the Gamecocks and their SEC-worst run defense. The Vols were stuffed twice on two plays from inside the 1-yard line in the first quarter.

Pulling guard Marcus Jackson whiffed on the block that would've allowed Hurd to walk into the end zone on third-and-goal. On fourth-and-goal, South Carolina stymied the interior of Tennessee's line.

Tennessee couldn't get first downs running the ball on two third-quarter possessions that ended in missed field-goal tries, and there were two false-start penalties and Jackson's holding flag.

Regardless of the mistakes and other circumstances, Mahoney didn't mince words on how much the performance meant to him and his players.

"It's a huge relief in the fact that it's been a trying year," Mahoney said. "We've had a lot of hard times. We've come in on Sundays and have been down and out. It's been tough at times, and to have that kind of win as a team win, which is first and foremost, but then to look and say hey, look what we were able to do on the road against that opponent, was very rewarding.

"It was deserving of them because of their hard work, their attitude, their staying positive, their work ethic and all those things. I can't say enough about it. I'm so happy and proud for them, because it's been a tough go for all of us."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com

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