But the 5-foot-10, 220-pound sophomore spent most of the second half on the sideline on crutches.
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The Volunteers started the season 2-3 in gut-wrenching fashion, blowing 14-point leads against Oklahoma and Arkansas and a 13-point cushion versus Florida. He ran 18 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He was on a streak of 13 consecutive games of 100 or more rushing yards dating back to 2014. He also did it a year ago in a 45-42 overtime victory at South Carolina.
It took everyone, but together the Vols showed maturity in coming back from down 21 and finally making the plays to win in the final minute. A 26-yard keeper by Dobbs was the big play on a drive that ended with a 2-yard pass from Dobbs to Alvin Kamara. Josh Malone had five catches for 60 yards and Ethan Wolf had three catches for 56 yards.
After CBS Sports captured for millions of viewers the horrific leg injury Chubb suffered on the first play of the game against Tennessee on Saturday, there was concern whether the Bulldogs’ star tailback might ever run the ball again.
Georgia drove the ball down to the 27 yard line, but Greyson Lambert’s heave to the end zone fell incomplete as Tennessee won 38-31.
In a game marred by the Chubb injury, the Bulldogs still came out firing early on as they jumped out to a 24-3 lead in the second quarter.
Considering that UT had made only two first downs in its previous two possessions, Jones could have chosen to punt in an attempt to minimize the damage, perhaps hoping the Vols could regain their balance during halftime.
The second touchdown came after the Bulldogs fumbled a kickoff. Facing another fourth down later in that drive, Dobbs found an out-of-nowhere Josh Smith across the middle, who adjusted his body mid-sprint, hauled in the pass between a slew of Georgia defenders and ran 39 yards for a touchdown.
For Georgia, losing Chubb would drag down an offense with a shaky quarterback situation.
I don’t advise you to keep missing tackles like your defense did through the first three quarters, especially in the first half.
“He was in pain, physical and mental pain, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to finish out this game because he had put so much work into it”, Richt said. Tennessee may not compete for the division crown, but this victory should provide a confidence boost heading into an October 24 game at Alabama. No one more than quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
With their season on the brink in the face of Georgia’s 24-3 lead late in the first half, the Vols scored two touchdowns in the span of 37 seconds to reroute momentum.
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It was still the Vols’ game.
