Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) takes the snap from center Mack Crowder (57) during this past Saturday's Alabama game.DOBBS DETOURTennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs made his debut in the second half of the Vols' loss at Alabama as a freshman last season, but after some showing some flashes in leading Tennessee to 10 points against the Crimson Tide, he struggled while finishing out the season for an injured Justin Worley. He may get a chance to do the same this season.Here's a game-by-game look at how Dobbs performed to close the 2013 season.Alabama: 5-of-12 for 75 yards; 19 yards on three carriesMissouri: 26-of-42 for 240 yards with two INTs; 45 yards on seven carriesAuburn: 16-of-25 for 128 yards with one INT; 50 yards on 10 carriesVanderbilt: 11-of-19 for 53 yards with two INTs; 23 yards on 11 carriesKentucky: 14-of-23 for 199 yards with two TDs and one INT; 52 yards and one TD on seven carries
KNOXVILLE - Tennessee again may be turning to Josh Dobbs for what the Volunteers hope is a late-season run to the accomplishment of its primary objective.
And for all the encouraging signs the sophomore quarterback showed in Saturday night's 34-20 loss to Alabama, Dobbs, if he indeed does take over Tennessee's starting role, will need a better finish this year than the one he had last season.
"My goal is to help this team win however I can," Dobbs said after accounting for 267 of the Vols' 383 yards against the Crimson Tide. "Our goal is to get to a bowl game. I'll do anything and everything to do that."
Exactly how much Tennessee will need Dobbs hinges on the health of Justin Worley.
The senior started the first seven games of the season before hurting his shoulder in the fourth quarter of Tennessee's loss at Ole Miss and sitting out Saturday night's game.
Butch Jones will update Worley's long-term status at the second-year Tennessee coach's weekly news conference at noon today, and he said after the game there was no timetable on his return.
The speculation around Knoxville is Worley suffered a torn labrum, but Jones said Worley threw on Friday, albeit without the required zip and velocity, when the Vols tested him to see if he could play against Alabama.
"He's disappointed," the coach said. "Any time you're a competitor and you've worked as hard as Justin has worked, any time you don't get an opportunity to compete, it hurts you. He's hurting right now. I don't know the long-range forecast.
"We'll know a little bit more in the next couple of days of moving forward, but I know he's disappointed because he's put so much effort and energy into his senior year."
Worley's season ended against Alabama last season, and as the only healthy quarterback on the roster at the time, Dobbs took over the starting role in the second half against the Tide.
There were some positive signs in Dobbs's debut then, too, but he threw five interceptions in Tennessee's next three games and struggled mightily in a 53-yard passing performance against Vanderbilt before accounting for 251 yards and three scores in the finale against Kentucky.
"We have to continue to build," Jones said. "He needs to be better next week, if he's our quarterback. It's all learning now. He has the live game opportunities now this year, and I think that the live opportunities he had last year proved to be very beneficial. I thought he was poised. I thought he was very calm and collected.
"But again, he has to continue to build on his mistakes and continue to rectify them and improve, and he will."
During practices throughout the preseason and early parts of the season, Dobbs noticeably struggled with his accuracy, and that likely led to him sliding down the pecking order behind Worley and Nathan Peterman, who's been ineffective in the games he's played the past two seasons, and heading toward a redshirt.
He admitted as much back in August, but he was fairly sharp throwing the ball against Alabama, which is a credit to him for staying ready and taking advantage of his chance.
"I felt pretty comfortable," he said. "I think it just came through preparation. We had a good week of practice as a team, and when we have a good week practice, it builds a lot of confidence in your play."
Perhaps the most impressive part of Dobbs's play was his efficiency on third down. He was 7-of-10 passing for 103 yards and both of his touchdowns and ran five times for 47 yards on third downs. Dobbs threw or ran for 10 of Tennessee's 11 conversions.
"Josh did a great job, just coming out there and moving the chains, doing his job, pulling it when he needed to and making his right reads in his progression," receiver Marquez North said.
Of course, Dobbs did have two turnovers and missed on a couple of easier throws, most notably a slant pattern he threw behind North on a would-be touchdown that would have brought Tennessee to within 34-23 with nearly 10 minutes left.
As he showed on Saturday night, though, Dobbs, who's some 25 pounds bigger than he was as a freshman, brings another element to Tennessee's offense as a runner.
His 75 yards on the ground -- Alabama was only allowing 64 yards per game -- was the most by a Tennessee quarterback since Tee Martin ran for 81 yards at Syracuse in the 1998 season opener.
His mobility and speed help him escape pressure and turn broken plays into something, as he did on 15-yard run in the third quarter after Alabama had a called screen pass dead to rights.
"It definitely helps to take the pressure off me," tailback Jalen Hurd said. "He did a great job. The offensive line did a great job blocking. We made big plays. We've just got to fix a few little things."
How Dobbs played might have surprised plenty of folks, but his teammates don't seem to be among that crowd.
"I'm not surprised," linebacker Curt Maggitt said. "Dobbs is a great athlete and a real smart guy. He's going to help us a lot in the future."
It may already be here.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.