I think Dabo has been disliked by many national media types for a long time, despite his success, because of his overt (and in my opinion, purposely conspicuous and preening) religiosity. If given a chance to, I think they'll turn on him so fast it'll make your head spin. I wouldn't expect many in the media to come to his defense.
A ton of people like Dabo because of what they feel he represents, but a ton of people hate him for that same reason and would eat it up if the media turned negative on him. Very Tebow-like, although I've gotten the impression that Tebow's beliefs are probably more genuine.