Quarterback Josh Dobbs Gives Tennessee Volunteers Chance to Win Out in 2014

Not only has Tennessee found its quarterback of the future in sophomore Josh Dobbs, but also the catalyst who could elevate the Volunteers to a 7-5 football record this year.

The dual-threat signal-caller had a game for the ages in his first start of the season Saturday night. He willed UT back from two touchdowns down with less than four minutes remaining to shock South Carolina 45-42 in overtime.

With the Vols trailing by a score with no timeouts and 1:24 left, Dobbs completed five of his eight attempts for 77 yards and scrambled to find Jason Croom for a nine-yard touchdown that tied the game with an extra point and sent it into overtime.

"We knew if we got the ball back and the defense left any time on the clock, we'd score," Dobbs told The Vol Network's Tim Priest in the postgame radio show, "and we did that."

Added UT coach Butch Jones to GoVols247's Wes Rucker:

Freshman kicker Aaron Medley nailed a 32-yard field goal to put the Vols ahead in the extra session, then Curt Maggitt and Derek Barnett sacked Dylan Thompson on consecutive plays to push the Gamecocks back.

Carolina wound up attempting a 58-yard field goal that was nowhere close, and the Vols celebrated an improbable win.

The centerpiece of it all was Dobbs, the quirky, aerospace-engineering major whose ability may be as big as his brain.

Like he'd done all night, Dobbs gutted South Carolina's porous defense on that final drive. 

In a sensational individual effort, he set the all-time single-game UT rushing record with 166 yards, breaking Jimmy Streater's mark of 106 set in 1979 against Auburn.

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He also completed 23 of 40 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns to go along with his three rushing scores. 

Thousands of UT fans used to gut-wrenching losses watched as the Vols got the ball back in regulation with a sliver of hope, expecting them to botch another opportunity like they'd done so many times during these wretched years.

But Dobbs wouldn't allow it.

He made play after play, and his teammates followed suit, elevating their play to match his.

First, freshman running back Jalen Hurd—who had his own incredible effort with 183 total yards—scored on a spinning, tackle-breaking 4th-and-6 play from 21 yards out to keep UT in the game in the fourth quarter.

Though Pig Howard and Croom have been overshadowed this year, they were two of UT's biggest weapons in the receiving corps throughout a fast and furious fourth quarter.

Then, after the Vols defense had struggled to do anything all night, Maggitt got his second sack on the first defensive play of overtime. Barnett followed that with his third, and UT made every single play when it had to.

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"Resilient; great composure at the end," UT head coach Butch Jones told SEC Network's Heather Mitts amid the postgame celebration. "We knew we were going to win the game all week. It was just a confidence that we had all week in our preparation, and it was like slow motion. We just knew we'd find a way to win the football game.

"We needed this. Vol Nation needed this."

Dobbs made it all click. 

Without him lined up in the shotgun through the season's first seven games, UT's offense was a sluggish, stagnant unit that couldn't get out of its own way. The statuesque Justin Worley couldn't move the pocket and was an easy target behind an offensive line that couldn't block.

Now that Dobbs is there, the Vols offense improved drastically against Alabama and was unstoppable against South Carolina, rolling up 645 yards and 35 first downs. Now, hope springs eternal.

The Gamecocks had no answer for Dobbs.

One minute, he took a designed quarterback run 36 yards to the house on a 4th-and-3 to end the first half. The next, he hit Howard on a rocketed crossing pattern or dropped a beautiful 42-yard strike to Von Pearson.

Dobbs saved his calmness and brilliance, however, for when the game on the line. He completed passes, extended plays, ran for key first downs and led the team to touchdowns.

He refused to lose again, displaying the type of leadership necessary to be a difference-making quarterback in the nation's toughest conference.

With his teammates on the other side of the football down and out, Dobbs kept encouraging them, telling them to just get the ball back with time on the clock, and he'd win the game.

The Vols made Dobbs' words stand, and the celebration was on.

Jones actually lost his composure for a few minutes in the postgame locker room, dancing with his players. UT football's official Twitter account captured Jones in a lighthearted moment after Dobbs' performance allowed him to let loose after such a pressing two years on Rocky Top.

A bye week comes at a critical time for UT, just in time for the Vols to devise a game plan to play Kentucky and Missouri in Neyland Stadium, followed by a season-ending showdown against Vanderbilt in Nashville. If the Vols win two of three, they'll go bowling for the first time since 2010.

Every one of UT's remaining games is meaningful, but there is at least some wiggle room for a potential loss where none would've existed had the Vols fallen Saturday night. 

Kentucky is a more complete team than it's been since Andre' Woodson played for the Wildcats. Suddenly, Maty Mauk and Mizzou are 7-2 and leading the SEC East despite a slow start. The Vols have to get at least one of those games to go along with what should be a win over rival Vanderbilt on the road.

But nobody is thinking about that now. With Dobbs playing the way he is, there's no reason why the Vols can't run the table.

After all hope seemed lost as the Williams-Brice Stadium game clock ticked down to the four-minute mark in regulation, Dobbs willed the Vols to a win. Now, hope could fill Neyland Stadium to capacity.

Seven wins seemed impossible down 27-0 to Alabama a couple weeks back, but once Dobbs entered, everything changed.

He's capable of saving the season and jolting this program into a giant leap forward.

All stats and information taken from UTSports.com.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.