It’s been three years since Tennessee has played in a bowl game, and one former Vol player is particularly excited to see the Vols back in the postseason.
Tennessee will take on Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl down in Jacksonville, Florida on January 2nd. Former Vol quarterback Josh Dobbs is currently on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster in the NFL, and needless to say, he’s happy to get a chance to see his former school play in his new professional home.
The Jaguars’ official Twitter account posted a video of Dobbs in the ticketing office in Jacksonville whistling along to “Rocky Top.” But that wasn’t all Dobbs did in the video:
Safe to say @josh_dobbs1 is looking forward to the @taxslayerbowl
?: https://t.co/w2l4xfbgJm pic.twitter.com/BlG0hpiwnD
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) December 23, 2019
And yes, Dobbs is “pro-woo” in “Rocky Top.”
Wouldn’t have been complete without the “Wooh!”??@Vol_Football @tennalum https://t.co/sW8yqmAhvP
— Josh Dobbs (@josh_dobbs1) December 23, 2019
Dobbs’ first bowl game appearance as a Vol came in the TaxSlayer Bowl at the end of the 2014 season. He helped lead Tennessee to a 6-6 record in 2014 and an appearance in the Jacksonville-based bowl game, the Vols’ first bowl berth since 2010. Tennessee blew past Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl, 45-28, to finish 7-6 and give UT their first winning season since 2009.
Tennessee would go on to make a bowl game in every other year of Josh Dobbs’ run as the Vols’ starting quarterback, going 9-4 in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016. Dobbs was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers after graduating from UT. This past September, Dobbs was traded to the Jaguars after Jacksonville lost starting quarterback Nick Foles. But Dobbs hasn’t played for the Jaguars because backup quarterback Gardner Minshew has filled in well for Foles, completing 59.9 percent of his 431 passes for 2,976 yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions in 13 games.
In 2018, Dobbs appeared in five games for the Steelers, marking his first official NFL action of his career. In those five appearances, Dobbs completed six of his 12 pass attempts for 43 yards and an interception while also running for 11 yards on four carries, picking up two first downs on his four carries.
As a Vol, Dobbs finished with 87 career touchdowns in his 37 career games, throwing for 53 scores, running for 32, and catching two touchdowns. Dobbs owns all of Tennessee’s rushing records for a quarterback in school history both in a season and in a career.
Dobbs and the rest of Vol nation will get a chance to watch the 2019 Volunteers play one more time on January 2, 2020 when they face-off with Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. There’s a good chance Dobbs will be in attendance for that bowl game, too.
