KNOXVILLE – It took Tennessee six games to find the right formula for success in its passing game.
Inconsistency in that phase of the offense haunted the Volunteers in losses to Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas, but they found their best offensive rhythm and balance of the season last week as quarterback Josh Dobbs threw for a career-high 312 yards and added 118 of Tennessee’s 207 rushing yards in the 38-31 win over Georgia.
The 300-yard game was just Tennessee’s second since Tyler Bray left in 2012 and the first since Dobbs threw for 301 yards in the rally at South Carolina last season.
So what did the Vols do differently to produce such dramatic results?
“I don’t think we changed anything significant,” tight end Ethan Wolf said Wednesday. “I think it was just execution. We found a little rhythm there, and we’re looking forward to building on that.
“I don’t think there was a whole lot different, just Dobbs making good throws, the line protecting and ultimately catching the football and advancing. There was nothing new. It’s just the execution was there.”
Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said he felt the Vols were making improvements in practice, and he believed the offense would execute well throwing the ball.
“We changed a few things, and the things we normally change are more in third down because of what people do,” he said Wednesday. “We do have to change some things on third down. I give the credit to the players for the execution of it and the protection. Our guys up front and our running backs did an unbelievable job of protecting.”
Tennessee again heavily involved the running backs and tight ends in the passing game, but the receiving corps that battled frustration the first five weeks of the season came through with easily its best collective performance of the season.
Wideouts Jennings, Josh Malone, Josh Smith, Preston Williams and Von Pearson turned 23 combined targets into 12 receptions for 179 yards.
Two games previously at Florida, the receivers caught two passes for 7 yards.
“It’s been frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” Malone said after turning five receptions into 60 yards, “but we knew as a group that if we kept working and just kept proving to the coaches in practice that we could get open and make plays, we knew that some time in the game they were going to give us a shot.”
The Vols attacked the middle of the field and took more shots downfield against Georgia, and the results – most notably nine completions of 15 or more yards – suggest Tennessee should continue with that approach.
Tennessee turned seven throws down the middle into four completions for 101 yards as tight ends Wolf and Alex Ellis, who combined for 87 yards on five receptions, made big plays on seam patterns.
The Vols only threw four more passes 10 or more yards downfield against Georgia than they did against Arkansas, but those 15 passes resulted in six receptions for 167 yards, one pass-interference penalty and two drops.
“It just all came down to execution,” Dobbs said. “We had a great week of preparation, which really helped us out in the game, and we played with confidence. All game the O-line did a great job, the running backs did a great job and the receivers did a great job. Everyone was operating on the same page, and it allowed us to play efficiently.”
DeBord said Tennessee’s game plan was to wear down Georgia’s pass rushers up front by running the ball and mixing in screen passes and quarterback runs, and the Vols didn’t divert from that plan even when they fell down 24-3 in the first half.
“I mentioned last week, when we looked at the third-and-long and third-and-11-plus tape, it was a sackfest,” DeBord explained. “(Georgia) was just getting after that quarterback. We didn’t want to get into that kind of a game, where it was third-and-long.
“We felt like we had to do that. Once that happened and we started running the football a little bit, that opened up the throw game even more so. We continued to take kind of what they were giving us.”
Tennessee is third in the SEC in rushing offense heading into its open date, and the Vols will continue to make establishing the ground game their primary goal.
If the Vols can find similar execution and success in the passing game, though, the offense could be in for some more big performances.
“It definitely opens things up,” Wolf said. “The run game opens that all up. It can definitely be a momentum type of play, big plays down the field. Josh Smith on fourth-and-9, that’s a big momentum play.
“It’s plays we’re going to continue to make throughout the season.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com