Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) takes off on a fourth-down play, with seconds left on the clock, to score a 36-yard touchdown at South Carolina last Saturday.

KNOXVILLE -- Josh Dobbs walked into one of his classes at the University of Tennessee on Monday and was greeted by cheers and an ovation from a handful of his fellow students.

On the sophomore quarterback's social media accounts, he's been given myriad nicknames and had his face photoshopped to an astronaut suit and received countless words of encouragement.

Someone from ESPN was on the other end of the phone call he took after his post-practice interview session Tuesday, a day after he became the first Volunteer to be named the SEC offensive player of the week since Tyler Bray in November 2012. He also was the Tennessee Sports Writers Association's offensive player of the week.

Such is life when you pile up 467 yards of total offense, score five touchdowns and orchestrate an improbable comeback like Dobbs did against South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday night.

"Him playing like that," freshman tailback Jalen Hurd said, "he deserves every bit of it."

The hype surrounding Tennessee's quarterback has hit a fever pitch and taken on a life of its own, but Dobbs will need to manage the newfound notoriety and the shiny spotlight as the Vols continue to chase the program's first bowl game since 2010 with a three-game stretch of Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt following this week's open date.

"If there's one individual who can handle it, it's Josh Dobbs," Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. "He's very humble. He's very unassuming. He takes everything in stride, and we always tell everyone, 'Praise and blame, it's all the same.'

"You have to take it in stride and enjoy it. But again, what you did last week has no bearing of what you're going to do the following week. You have to earn it every week through your preparation."

Between his life as a football player and 16-hour class load this semester as an aerospace engineering major -- thermodynamics, physics, matrices, circuits, computers and even business management are among the subjects -- Dobbs is plenty busy, but his usual routine is going to be interrupted after how he's played the past two weeks.

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UT Vols quarterback 'Astro' Dobbs dealing with sudden stardom