When redshirt sophomore Drake Dorbeck stepped on the field last Saturday at UTSA, it felt like the first game of the season for him.
“I was nervous all week, because that was my first full game to ever play at the college level,” Dorbeck, a Vicksburg native, said. “It was like the first game of the season for me.”
Dorbeck left the season-opener against Kentucky early in the contest with a fracture in his forearm, and after missing the next three games, which included a bye week, he returned to the starting lineup Saturday.
“It was pretty frustrating,” Dorbeck said. “You got through all of camp, and then it’s just one play and you’re down when it matters. (I had to) bounce back. You can’t control some things.”
The 6-foot-6, 320-pound left tackle said he was told he’d be out four to six weeks, so he came back right on schedule.
Dorbeck’s move back to left tackle shuffled the line almost back to its season-opening lineup, but Jerry Harris moved to right tackle and Ty Pollard played right guard instead. Farrior and Fletcher remained at center and left guard, respectively.
It was Pollard’s first-ever game playing right guard, too, as he’s played right tackle through the first four games. Southern Miss offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said he spent time Sunday after the North Texas loss reevaluating his offensive line because he knew he’d most likely get Dorbeck back at left tackle.
“I just felt like making that move was the best moving forward to give us a chance to win,” Dawson said. “Jerry is a very athletic guy, Drake is a very athletic guy and we needed some size and presence in the middle, so it made sense to me to make that move. We made that move on Sunday and Ty bought into it and played great. Really, played really good at guard and was very physical inside. I really did think moving forward that gave us the best opportunity to be successful up front.”
The former Oak Grove High School standout had never practiced at right guard until the Monday before the UTSA game, but Dawson said he bought into the position change. That’s the biggest thing for Dawson when it comes to moves like this. If the player buys into the change, even though it might not be the best thing for the player, it works out well for all parties.
“It was easy for him,” Dawson said of switching positions. “He doesn’t have a lot of reps at that position, and he hadn’t had any reps at that position until Monday night (before UTSA). Ty is a smart football player. I don’t know if you do that with just anybody, but with him, I felt good about it.”
Dawson said this was the offensive starting lineup he’ll use moving forward, barring any injuries, of course.
Having Dorbeck back anchoring the left side proved to be vital throughout last week’s contest. On Ito Smith’s 89-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give Southern Miss at 28-13 lead, Dorbeck sprung Smith loose with a key block on the UTSA defensive end.
“We were on the sideline and we noticed some things they were doing,” Dorbeck said. “(Offensive line) coach (Erik) Losey drew it up on the clipboard, and the first play we got out there, they did exactly what they drew up. I executed the block, got the DE blocked and Ito was out of the gate.”
Dawson said he was really impressed with how Dorbeck was able to recognize the weak box, turn and block the defensive end.
“In that specific scheme, it’s very hard for a tackle, with quick motion and stuff, to see a weak box and turn back and block on the end,” Dawson said. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know if I’ve had a lot of (offensive) tackles who did that in that specific deal because we had quick motion where the box will change a little bit and then technically we were telling him to push, but he didn’t. He saw a weak box, and he countered back on the guy and sealed it off. If he doesn’t do that, the guy is going to make a tackle. Really, he got the play started and Ito obviously ran for like 80 or so.”
Southern Miss takes on UTEP Saturday at 6 p.m., and the expected starting offensive line is Dorbeck at left tackle, Fletcher at left guard, Farrior manning the center position and Pollard and Harris on the right side.
