JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The past two seasons have followed similar scripts for Josh Dobbs.
The Tennessee quarterback went from redshirting reserve to sudden starter both last season and this one, but this one including a bit of a plot twist.
Unlike when Dobbs finished the season for the Volunteers as a freshman in 2013, there's no impending quarterback competition waiting on him the following offseason.
BOWL BITS
* Including the league's recent newcomers, Tennessee is 18-11 against teams in the Big Ten. The Vols are 7-5 against Big Ten teams in bowl games, the last meeting a 21-17 win against Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl to end the 2007 season. * Iowa and Tennessee split their two previous meetings. The Hawkeyes withstood a second-half rally by Alan Cockrell and the Vols to win the 1982 Peach Bowl 28-22. Tennessee beat Iowa 23-22 in the 1987 Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. Reggie Cobb ran for 133 yards and Tennessee kicked the winning field goal in the final seconds. * Tennessee's last appearance in this bowl, long known as the Gator Bowl, came in 1994, when the game was played in Gainesville with the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now Everbank Field) under construction for the Jaguars' NFL debut set for the following season. James Stewart ran for 85 yards and three scores and threw a touchdown pass, and freshman quarterback Peyton Manning tossed a touchdown pass to Marcus Nash as the Vols beat Virginia Tech 45-23.
Dobbs is the biggest reason Tennessee is playing Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl here today, and the Vols' 2014 finale will be another step in the process of the offense and the team becoming his as Tennessee moves into what appears to be a bright future.
"I do feel like it's more my offense this year," Dobbs said Wednesday. "Last year I came on late in the season, but all throughout last season and this season I've been a constant leader. I've been on the player staff both years. I've done a great job of leading my teammates, and I need to continue to do that.
"Obviously being the starting quarterback gives you more say behind your word and more power behind your words, so the team has done a great job of rallying and getting ready for this bowl game."
For better or worse, Dobbs appears to be Tennessee's quarterback of the future. That much has become clear as he's helped the Vols reach the program's first bowl game since 2010 down the stretch of a season that appeared dead in the water after a 34-3 loss at Ole Miss in mid-October.
He's vastly outperformed fellow sophomore Nathan Peterman in games, and with senior Justin Worley moving on, the Vols' other quarterbacks will be freshmen early enrollees Quinten Dormady and Jauan Jennings.
The quarterback question beyond this season was the elephant in the room for the Vols until Dobbs entered against Alabama, orchestrated an improbable rally to an overtime win at South Carolina and led the way in wins against Kentucky and Vanderbilt to get the Vols to six wins.
Contrast that to his freshman season, when Dobbs struggled mightily (11-of-19 passing for 53 yards and two interceptions) in a home loss to Vanderbilt that ultimately knocked Tennessee out of reaching bowl eligibility.
"Even though he was a backup for part of the year, he was still gaining those valuable repetitions," Vols coach Butch Jones said. "We always speak to our quarterbacks and everyone in our football program, you're always one snap away, and you never know when that one snap is going to occur.
"A lot of individuals, when you have a senior in front of them and you're kind of going through the thought process of a possible redshirt, would shut it down. To his credit, he prepared every week as though he was the starter."
Dobbs and his coaches acknowledge he has improvements to make, but his ability to extend plays with his running ability and the added dimension he brings to an offense better suited for a quarterback with his repertoire give hope he can develop into the quarterback capable of winning games for Tennessee.
"He's done a good job of managing the offense and limiting the turnovers," offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian said before Tuesday's practice here. "I think that's key. We're talking complementary football with offense, defense and special teams, playing the field-position game and limiting turnovers. Obviously, we're always going to improve upon that.
"Any interception or any turnover is too many, but he's also taken command. He's taken ownership of the leadership that's necessary to be the guy -- the alpha male, as we like to call it."
In his five-game stint this season, Dobbs completed nearly 62 percent of his passes for 1,077 yards and eight touchdowns with five interceptions and added 393 yards and six touchdowns on 91 carries.
While waiting on the sideline to walk to midfield for the coin toss before Tennessee's home game against Missouri in November, the stoic Dobbs stood like a statue while linebackers A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt bounced up and down trying to fire up the crowd.
"I show a lot of emotion, I show a lot of passion on the field," Dobbs said, "but my goal, I've got to stay even-keeled, because being the quarterback various things happen throughout the game.
"Whether you're up or whether you're down, your team needs to be able to see you (stay) constant and being able to go out there and work hard and perform under any circumstance. My team knows that, my team knows how I act on and off the field, and they definitely have accepted that. My goal is to stay being me and continue to work hard and continue to execute."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.