Tennessee quarterback Dobbs providing great play, but no magic

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops says there is nothing magical about Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs .

“I just think he’s a very good football player. You see him getting better and better with every game, every rep. I think he has a great command of the offense and what they’re doing and a guy that’s very comfortable back there,” Stoops said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference.

“He’s throwing the ball extremely accurate when he’s on rhythm and has time and they’re setting up some very good play action with him and he looks very comfortable with it. Certainly he just has a great feel for the pocket and he’s just one of those guys for a defensive guys, he’s very aggravating because he has a great presence back there.

“He’s strong. He can run it on designed quarterback runs, but he also has good feel for eluding pressure.”

In last week’s loss at Mississippi State, dual threat quarterback Dak Prescott accounted for six touchdowns.

“We have to do better than what we did on Saturday against a similar type of offense. It’s got to improve,” UK defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot said Wednesday. “We’re more focused on us than concerning ourselves about the opponent. We’re really focusing on us getting better and improving from our mistakes.

“I think it was our worst game and that’s obvious. I’m not discouraged about our progress and I’m not discouraged about the future.”

Tennessee — which had great chances to beat Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida but barely lost to all three — also has a pair of talented running backs in Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.

“I think you have to not know a lot about football if you gave any other answer than extremely impressive. Those are some talented guys. They’re good, strong runners and just the whole package. Jalen Hurd is a special football player and so is Alvin. They’re very, very good players and they put a lot of pressure on a defense,” Stoops said.