How big a difference-maker is Josh Dobbs, really? How much better could we do this year, purely because of him?
Imagine this: Team 118 without Nate Peterman.
Respect Nate as a human being, wish him well at Pitt, but he wasn't the solution in 2014.
So what would last year have looked like without him...with Josh instead?
Start with the Georgia game. Worley is playing lights out, but leaves the game mid-3rd Qtr after smashing his elbow into a Georgia player's helmet.
Re-imagine those 3 Peterman-led drives, but with Dobbs. First drive, no real change ... penalties and a Marlin Lane fumble define this drive, not QB play. Second drive, instead of Nate sacked on 2nd & 6 at own 24, followed by pass incomplete on 3rd & 20 at own 10, it becomes Dobbs scramble for 1st down...does the drive continue to a TD? A FG? Maybe, maybe not. Quite possibly, given Dobb's performance a few weeks later. But for now, just put a bookmark here and skip forward to the 3rd Peterman drive.
12:45 remaining in the 4th Qtr, 1st & 10 at own 20. incomplete pass...incomplete pass...7 yd pass...would be 4th &3 if not for a UGa penalty granting a Vols 1st down at own 32 ... 1 yd run...incomplete pass...incomplete pass...punt. Would this series have turned into points with Dobbs? Again, impossible to tell.
But it's not a drastic stretch, seeing how Josh played just four weeks later against 'Bama, to imagine one of those two possessions leading to a TD. That's the kind of spark Josh provided in 2014. And with one more TD, the Vols beat Georgia by 4 points.
Now the 3-1 Vols host Florida, feeling a newfound sense of confidence. In the team, and in their QB duo -- Worley was the man vs Georgia, and Dobbs did a great job when needed to back him up. There's great confidence in this pair of leaders. So later in the game, when frustration with Worley's miserable outing begins to seep in, the team doesn't give up. Butch doesn't give up. He just changes gears. In comes Dobbs mid-way through the 3rd Qtr, and he's the spark the offense needs. All it achieves is a single field goal, it really is that kind of day, but the FG is enough. Vols win, and go to 4-1.
Not gonna argue for a change to the Ole Miss, Mizzou, or even Vandy games (Vandy was ugly, though a win); we're nudging history here, not beating the crap out of it. But there is one more game that needs to be revisited...Alabama.
Nate Peterman no longer starts the Bama game. This time, it's Josh Dobbs from the start. And instead of Peterman being sacked on 3rd & 7 at the Alabama 38 yard line, Dobbs scrambles for a first down. 38 seconds later, the Vols score and lead the game 7-0. An Amari Cooper 80 yard TD pass mere seconds later (and a missed extra point attempt) brings the score to 7-6, Vols.
Does Josh make a difference on Nate's second drive of the game (and last of his Tennessee career)? Nah. Again, we're nudging history, not rewriting it. Alabama still wins this game, but the score is 34-27, rather than 34-20.
And so the Vols end the season 9-4, having beaten Texas in the Texas Bowl. Team 118 is Butch Jones' breakout team, and Josh Dobbs is the undisputed leader of the team going into the off-season.
That's the kind of difference Dobbs makes.
Could it have happened that way? It's a bit like unicorn farts. They may actually smell like roses and shimmer like a rainbow. We'll never know. Sure seems reasonable, though.
Are there really still people who doubt the Vols could go 9-3 in 2015? Does any of the above (except the unicorn part) sound unreasonable?
[and note: all the above was with the OLine exactly as it was in 2014, not an ounce better...think we can't do the same in 2015, at least?]
