The Coming Quarterback Clash

You're a terrible mind reader.

 

Damn you jay! You just made me shoot whiskey out my nose. That gif is great!

 

Mother ****er stole it from me.

 

I didn't steal it. I give you the credit for it. Ain't no thang brother.

 

I've sent that shit out to just about everyone I know. Love it!

 

Haha, was just kidding, my man.

 

I'm with ya. I knew you'd raise Canadian hell if I didn't credit you. I wouldn't steal a man's work.

 

Hell, I stole it from somewhere I can't remember. I think I just Googled '[penis] swinging stick figure' that night you posted the bat-dingaling signal gif.

Here's another great one:

 

I just rewatched the WKU and USC game today.

Man, I hope Worley has SERIOUSLY improved. I won't be able to stand to watch a whole season of him throwing into the dirt.

 

Whenever you looked forward to anything pleasant you were sure to be more or less disappointed . . . perhaps that is true. But there is a good side to it too. The bad things don't always come up to your expectations either . . . they nearly always turn out ever so much better than you think. --L. M. Montgomery (1874 - 1942)--

[So it is written, so it shall be.]

 

Worth noting that that guy died before Dooley was born.

 

I assume it involves snow and ice.

 

I like it.

 

KenTenn... bless your heart.

Anyway, the rumor I've heard is that Dobbs struggled with the playbook last year and possibly still is struggling with the playbook this year. Does anyone know if this was true for Dobbs last year? How about for this year?

If he's still struggling with the playbook this year, then that raises several much more disturbing questions.

 

So he can build robots and such but can't learn a playbook?

 

I think both freshman were telegraphed the idea by coaches that they weren't going to play thus neither put much stock in preparation for scenarios that weren't going to involve them.

 

Don't know about and doubt those rumors. Matter of fact, early before last season there was talk about Dobbs having memorized th entire playbook in a day or something like that. I couldn't find that statement but here's what I did find which indicate the rumors are just that rumors and false to boot:

When asked how much UT pared down the offense for Dobbs, Jones said, "We don't have to scale down the playbook one bit with him." Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...hy-josh-dobbs-needs-to-start-against-missouri

He actually worked on mastering the playbook before he stepped foot on campus: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/30/dobbs-calls-now-will-be-with-vols/?sportscollege

Dobbs' confidence also exudes on the field, a lot of which starts with knowing the playbook.

"The freshmen have been here for five or six months," said James. "For him to know the playbook like he does and all of his progressions and to be able to stand there confident in the huddle and telling us the plays, going through his reads and everything like that, it is a lot for an 18-year old."

"I remember having to play as a freshman and he is more locked in than a lot of us," said James. "That shows in the game, his preparation. He played well, he didn't look frightened, or scared or anything."
Source: http://www.wspa.com/story/23824845/vol-report-dobbs-to-start-vs-missouri

There's more I remember but no sense in boring the board with more cut and paste quotes as I'm sure you get the idea. These and more is what I heard, I never saw anything about him having a wrestling match with the playbook. He was a skinny frosh thrown into the fire of the hardest conference to play in and it showed explicitly. Add to that our WRs according to the coaches weren't able to run their routes consistently (except maybe Josh Smith who couldn't catch) and this was why Worley looked so bad. No wonder Josh threw so many interceptions, the WRs didn't know what he did and he had to get the ball out or be steamrolled. This season, either QB we use is going to be better and Jones is going with the better one because he knows a rabid fanbase wants wins NOW.

 

Disclaimer: I have not watched the Vandy game.


I don't see where Dobbs' problems last year were mental collapses or ignorance of the playbook. The Auburn and Mizzou games were not only bad playcalling, a beat up WR core, and a lack of chemistry between Dobbs and his receivers, but Auburn and Mizzou were just overall better than us. Against Kentucky, Dobbs looked mediocre at best but he was throwing to Croom, Young, and Carter for the most part, and he was pretty banged up by that point. I think he'll better suited to sustain punishment, which he'll need to be. And his timing appears(I say appears because all the evidence I have is the highlight video from the O&W game.) to be improved.


I think the freshmen TEs will be critical to what we see out of this offense this year. Downs is horribad and that is a position that Bajakian wants to use a lot. If those freshmen can make plays, it'll make this offense harder to defend, at least by most of the teams we can beat. If Dobbs is at QB and the threat of his feet is there, Wolf and/or Helm at TE, our first four WR, and the RBs we have, it's going to be hard for the last three teams we play to defend us.

 

I coached with several of Downs' high school coaches at some point. In talking with them, their reaction to him signing with UT was "wtf?". All of them.