KNOXVILLE - Josh Dobbs tossed four touchdown passes in Tennessee's win against Florida, but he didn't see the ending to those scoring plays.
On each of those throws Dobbs was hit shortly after he threw, and he watched a couple of them from the ground.
"It was more just hearing the crowd's reaction after the play," Dobbs recalled on Tuesday.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) fires a pass. The Florida Gators visited the Tennessee Volunteers in a important SEC football contest at Neyland Stadium on September 24, 2016."When you're a quarterback in the pocket, you have high vision and you're not really looking at the rush. You see someone coming open, you kind of feel the rush, but you feel like you can get it on them and throw it before you get hit."
Though he's never been labeled a pocket passer, Dobbs played like one against the Gators, repeatedly hanging in the pocket long enough to deliver a quartet of touchdown passes to guide Tennessee's remarkable comeback.
It was the most impressive pocket presence the senior has shown in his career.
"I thought this was probably the grittiest game Josh Dobbs has played in his career," Vols coach Butch Jones said Monday. "On most of the touchdown passes, I thought he stood in the pocket, he took a hit and a lot of times he didn't even see the conclusion of the play. All he could hear is the roar of the crowd.
"I thought he grew up as a quarterback in terms of throwing the football. He was able to set his feet. He was a high-vision quarterback in the pocket, and he proved he can throw the football. We had some receivers step up and make some big-time plays."
Named the SEC offensive player of the week for accounting for 399 yards and five touchdowns against what was the nation's No. 1 defense statistically, Dobbs appreciated the compliment from his coach.
"I guess when you see all the hits and everything, I definitely see where he's coming from for sure," he said. "I thank him for that compliment, and I know each game is different. I try to play tough every single game, whether it's standing in the pocket or whether it's on the run.
"We were in the team meeting, and there was a lot of 'T-tough' clips of me standing in the pocket, hanging in there and making a throw, which was definitely cool to see."
Dobbs's display of toughness wasn't cool for everyone to watch, though.
"Seeing Josh get hit, that's not acceptable as an offensive line," center Dylan Wiesman said Monday. "Seeing that makes us want to do better. Coming in and watching film on Sundays and seeing that, (it's) like we can't let that happen. He's one of our leaders and he's also a really close friend of mine, and I don't want to see that happen to him.
"It's going to make me work harder and make the whole offensive line work harder to not let that happen."
His production and performance against Florida mirrored what Dobbs did against Georgia last season, and he'll get his first and only shot to beat the Bulldogs in his home state when No. 11 Tennessee visits Athens on Saturday.
Tennessee trailed Georgia 24-3 in the second quarter before rallying behind Dobbs, who rescued the Vols by throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 118 yards and two more scores.
Dobbs set a new career high against Florida by throwing for 319 yards.
"They were very similar games," he said. "It was eerily similar. I was talking to (freshman quarterback) Jarrett (Guarantano) in the fourth quarter when the game was kind of sealed and he was like, 'How did this game feel to Georgia?' It felt exactly the same.
"Just the way that whole game evolved, where we were driving the ball and not finishing in the red zone, doing uncharacteristic things, not executing, got some momentum going into halftime and then carried that momentum through the second half.
"Each game, you don't really know what to expect going into each game. You just prepare to execute at a high level. We're definitely expecting a dogfight this weekend, especially going on the road. Any time you go on the road in the SEC you have to be ready to play a full 60-minute game, and we'll be ready to do that."
Dobbs said half of his graduating class of around 400 students at Alpharetta High School went to Georgia, but only he and one other student went to Tennessee.
Once the Bulldogs, who didn't offer Dobbs a scholarship. took a commitment from 2013 quarterback Brice Ramsey in July 2011, Dobbs, who was still playing junior varsity as a sophomore, took Georgia off his recruiting radar.
"Every game there's a chip on my shoulder," he said, "because I just want to win, no matter who the opponent is."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.