The Kentucky Wildcats (5-5, 2-5 SEC) travel to Neyland Stadium to face SEC East foe Tennessee (4-5, 1-4) Saturday. The Wildcats look to end their four-game losing skid and earn bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2010 season. The Vols face a similar goal, needing two wins to claim eligibility and look to end their own bowl drought that began the same year.

Tennessee has looked improved since inserting quarterback Joshua Dobbs into its offense. In two appearances, Dobbs has 493 passing yards, 241 rushing yards and seven total touchdowns (four passing, three rushing). Kentucky coach Mark Stoops credited the sophomore during his weekly press conference Monday, saying Dobbs brings a new element to Tennessee’s offense.

“Since they’ve gone to (Joshua) Dobbs as quarterback, they’re putting a lot of pressure on you with the creativity of their run game and he’s thrown it extremely well,” Stoops said. “They have talented wide receivers as we know. So they’re just doing a nice job, Butch (Jones) and his staff always offensively have been so creative. They’ve moved the football. Look at the numbers, I want to say 600 and whatever (yards), almost wanna say 6 and a half versus South Carolina, and they moved the ball quite well against Alabama when he went in the game.

“So they’re being very creative with the run game and you’ve heard me talk about it over and over again, anytime the quarterback is involved in run game you’ve got problems. It’s a numbers thing and he can run it and he can throw it and they’re talented outside so they put up big numbers and created explosive plays.”

Despite a struggling offensive line, Dobbs has managed to avoid sacks and provide a threat to run at quarterback. The sophomore’s mobility fits well in coordinator Mike Bajakian’s uptempo multiple offense, which features several read option plays.

“He’s just playing very well,” Stoops added. “Number one, he gives you a great athlete. The run game, the “Q” run game is obvious, but he’s also throwing the ball exceptionally well. When he led the come back versus South Carolina, threw some incredible balls in there at the right time and put it in some tight windows and executed very well. I’m sure they’re getting more and more confident with him and I’m sure he’s more confident because he’s played exceptionally well.”