Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) takes the snap from center Mack Crowder (57) during this past Saturday's Alabama game.CLOSE WITH CAROLINAIn the last 14 meetings between Tennessee and South Carolina dating back to 2000, nine times has the game been decided by eight points. Six of those, including the last two, were decided by a field goal or less. According to Tennessee's sports information department the 8.21-point average margin of victory is the narrowest of any regular SEC series with a minimum of 10 games played. Here's a look at the recent series history.2000: Tennessee 17, (17) South Carolina 142001: (9) Tennessee 17, (12) South Carolina 102002: (25) Tennessee 18, South Carolina 102003: (8) Tennessee 23, South Carolina 20 (OT)2004: (11) Tennessee 43, South Carolina 292005: South Carolina 16, (23) Tennessee 152006: (8) Tennessee 31, South Carolina 242007: (24) Tennessee 27, (15) South Carolina 24 (OT)2008: South Carolina 30, Tennessee 62009: Tennessee 31, (21) South Carolina 132010: (17) South Carolina 38, Tennessee 242011: (14) South Carolina 14, Tennessee 32012: (17) South Carolina 38, Tennessee 352013: Tennessee 23, (11) South Carolina 21NOTE: Games in even-numbered years were in Columbia, odd-numbered years in Knoxville.
KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee football coach Butch Jones may have displayed some gamesmanship Monday when he declared the Volunteers would be in no hurry this week to name a starting quarterback for the trip to South Carolina.
Or maybe there really will be a three-way battle for the starting job involving the recovering Justin Worley, Josh Dobbs and Nathan Peterman.
However you want to interpret Jones's words, it's hard to see the situation ending any way other than Dobbs, the sophomore who accounted for 267 of Tennessee's 383 yards against Alabama's vaunted defense, starting the game against the Gamecocks in Columbia.
"Josh will continue to get first-team reps, but I also have to guard against crowning individuals," Jones said during his weekly news conference Monday.
"I know everyone's excited, and they're looking for positive things, and there's a lot of positive things, but that's one game. When you watch the video tape, Josh would be the first to tell you there's a number of plays we left out there, a number of opportunities we left out there.
"Now, how can he transition from game one to game two of him playing?"
Tennessee will try to speed up Worley's recovery early in the week to see if he can throw the ball effectively enough to play, and even if the senior can, Jones said that would not guarantee him starting against the Gamecocks in his home state.
The Vols were coy about Worley's shoulder injury, suffered in the fourth quarter against Ole Miss, all last week, but when tested Friday he couldn't throw the ball well enough to play against Alabama. That led to Peterman starting and leading two series that ended in punts and Dobbs entering the game on the third series as planned, thus burning the redshirt the Vols were hoping he'd take this season after struggling in preseason training camp.
"Everything with Josh Dobbs is, 'How can I help the team win?'" Jones said when discussing his redshirting conversations with the QB. "He's selfless, he's unselfish, everything is about the team and he understands that. We've been up front, like we do with every player, telling them our thoughts and leaving it at their final decision.
"Then obviously (we) have great dialogue and conversations with their parents as well. Josh is one of those individuals, he'll do anything and everything for the team. Whatever benefits the team, he wants to do."
Jones said Tennessee did some things schematically to help their struggling offensive tackles -- the Vols started a new tandem in redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick and Jacob Gilliam, who's playing with a torn ACL -- and Dobbs "alleviated some of the stress and pressure" on the line with his mobility and a game plan suited to his skill set.
While Dobbs brings the element that Jones and offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian used successfully in their previous programs together at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, Jones was clear that the quarterback must be able to throw the ball first and foremost to keep the offense from becoming one-dimensional and predictable.
That's where Dobbs struggled as a freshman last season, when he threw five interceptions in his first three games as a starter, and throughout practice in August and September. It's also where Dobbs most surprised against the Crimson Tide. He started 13-of-19 passing for 148 yards with a couple of touchdowns.
Coaches often don't believe in the notion of a "gamer," a player who performs better in a game when the lights are on than he does during practice.
Jones is one of them, but he couldn't ignore the positives from Dobbs' performance.
"You don't like to say that as a coach, but he performed, he did some very good things in the game," Jones said. "That's not to say he hasn't performed at times well in practice. What we're looking for (from) Josh is just a very high level of consistency. Make the routine throws.
"He did some very good things," Jones added. "He defeated tight coverage at times. He was poised. He was going in there playing the University of Alabama, a top-four football team in the country, and I thought he gained some confidence from last year's opportunities. He needs to continue to take the next step now in practice this week."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com