Tennessee Vols Head Coach Butch Jones Should Always Coach As if His Team is Down

Joshua Dobbs’s play for the Tennessee Vols against the Georgia Bulldogs proved the Volunteers football coaches should always coach like they are behind.

Midway through his junior season at quarterback, Joshua Dobbs has six games under his belt that have really defined who he is as a quarterback and why people believe in him.

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Three of them are in blowout wins against the Kentucky Wildcats and Iowa Hawkeyes last year and the Bowling Green Falcons this year, all of whom had bad defenses.

But the other three were against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the South Carolina Gamecocks, and Georgia Bulldogs this past Saturday. Notice a common thread?

Tennessee was down significantly in all three games.

Dobbs was inserted into the lineup against Alabama after the Vols got down 27-0. Butch Jones got desperate and opened up the offense, letting Dobbs do what he can with his legs and his arm.

The result was 75 yards rushing, 192 yards passing, and two touchdowns in a gutsy performance that resulted in the Vols only losing 34-20.

The next week, Dobbs’s aura grew as his Vols were down 42-28, and Jones got desperate again with five minutes left. Dobbs then led his team on consecutive touchdown drives before Tennessee won in overtime, and his numbers for that game were 301 passing yards, 166 rushing yards, and five total touchdowns.

This year, against Georgia, Jones and Mike DeBord got desperate again and turned him loose down 24-3. The result was Dobbs once again putting up five touchdowns, running for over 100 yards, and throwing for over 300 yards.

Meanwhile, in all three of Tennessee’s losses, Jones and DeBord sat on the lead with Dobbs and only let him throw the ball on specifically designed plays. Against Florida, Dobbs single-handedly built the 27-14 lead for the Vols.

But after the Gators cut it to 27-21 and with Tennessee needing one first down to win, Jones took the game out of Dobbs’s hands and played the clock. Big mistake.

The lesson is this: Tennessee should stick to the game plan it has whenever it gets behind.

Jalen Hurd is a force at running back, and Alvin Kamara can be deadly with his versatility, but when you tighten up the offense, there is only so much they can do. Dobbs’s mobility along with Hurd is not used nearly enough, and together the two make a dominant rushing attack.

Instead, most of the time, everything DeBord calls for them are either a handoff up the middle or a fake handoff and quick pass from Dobbs. Why not let him make a read play? And when he does throw it, why not let him sit in the pocket and make his own decisions?

Dobbs has great receivers downfield who are good enough to make plays, and he showed he can find the open lane to run through if everybody is covered. DeBord and Jones keep coaching as if there is a blitz coming every time and they want to avoid a turnover.

They are coaching not to lose…until they get behind.

This makes no sense either for an offense supposedly based on tempo. Why would you base your team on tempo and try to run lots of plays but then have each play be some simple, quick, designed play that does not even give your weapons a chance to make plays? It is counter-active.

If you turn Dobbs loose, you have a Heisman candidate at quarterback, and if teams key on him too much, you then have a Heisman candidate at running back in Hurd.

The coaching staff needs to be able to see this in the off-week because the one way to beat Alabama is to use Dobbs’s dual-threat abilities to their fullest. That has always been the formula for beating a Nick Saban-coached team.

It’s time for the coaching staff to be aggressive all game on offense, not just when they get down.

Next: Vols vs. Spurrier: 10 Most Memorable Games

Joshua Dobbs’s play for the Tennessee Vols against the Georgia Bulldogs proved the Volunteers football coaches should always coach like they are behind.

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