Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs looks for a receiver during Saturday's game at Vanderbilt. Dobbs led the Vols to a 24-17 win and became bowl eligible for the first time since 2010.
photo by Dennis Norwood
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was more ugly than pretty, but Tennessee will take a 24-17 Southeastern Conference football victory over rival Vanderbilt before 40,350 fans at Dudley Field – the crowd predominantly attired in orange – and head to some kind of bowl somewhere.
Anywhere will be all right with the Vols, who haven’t played a postseason game since 2010 when they lost to North Carolina in a controversial Music City Bowl.
“(A bowl) means everything,” sophomore quarterback Joshua Dobbs said.
“We wanted to get our seniors to a bowl and progress from there. This is a stepping stone to this program and it’s definitely an exciting time to be here.”
The victory, 15th in 16 games for the Vols in Nashville and 30th in 33 overall, clinched a 6-6 season (3-5 SEC) and the school’s 50th all-time bowl appearance.
Tennessee left Nashville with its first two-game road win streak since 2006 when they knocked off Georgia and South Carolina.
The Vols, who lead the overall series with Vandy, 74-29-5, went ahead 24-10 in the third quarter, but couldn’t put the Commodores (3-9, 0-8) away until the final minute.
“This game summarized our season with adversity, great resiliency and we found a way to win the football game,” Vols coach Butch Jones said.
Dobbs, who was intercepted twice, had just 92 yards on 11-of-20 passing and rushed for 91 yards and touchdowns of 1 and 8 yards.
Cameron Sutton’s 76-yard punt return for a touchdown and Aaron Medley’s 36-yard field goal gave the Vols a 10-0 lead. It was the Vols’ first punt return for a touchdown since Cordarrelle Patterson’s 81-yarder against the Commodores in 2012.
“We felt confident coming in that we were going to get a big return,” Jones said. “We’ve been one or two individuals away, but everyone did their job and Cam provided that spark and momentum early for us. We needed it.”
Sutton went into the game having returned 11 punts for 72 yards.
Vanderbilt got a 36-yard Patton Robinette-to-Steven Scheu touchdown pass and a 36-yard Tommy Openshaw field goal to tie the game at 10-10.
Dobbs capped a 94-yard, 11-play drive – the team’s longest this season – with a 1-yard dive into the end zone with 1:29 left in the first half as the Vols regained the lead at 17-10.
In the third quarter, Dobbs scored from 8 yards out to push the spread to 24-10. The scoring drive was set up by Todd Kelly’s tip-toe interception – he managed to get his left big toe down while making the catch – at the sideline boundary.
One play before Dobbs’ dash up the middle, reserve tailback Marlin Lane, called on when starter Jalen Hurd went out after just five carries with an “upper body injury,” rambled 18 yards to the 8.
Vanderbilt closed the gap late in the third quarter when freshman running back Ralph Webb scored from the 3, capping a 71-yard, seven-play drive. Webb rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries.
“We came in with the mindset to win from the beginning of the game,” Webb said. “We needed a spark on offense and I told my team, ‘I got them.’ I just wanted to get us going.”
The Commodores, who had won the two previous games against the Vols, had 272 yards of offense, 10 more than Tennessee.
Tennessee intercepted three passes, two thrown by Robinette. In addition to Kelly, Brian Randolph and Justin Coleman – in the end zone – had picks. It was Coleman’s fourth interception this season and fifth in his career.
And when the game ended, the Vols had the bowl bid they’ve gunned for the entire season.
“It’s very rewarding,” Jones said. “(The players) didn’t want (the season) to end. I told them we had a team meeting on Monday at three o’clock. It could be to go over our bowl schedule or it could be goodbye, and it kind of hit them.
“They said, ‘Coach, we don’t want to say goodbye.’ ”
The win secured that Vanderbilt went winless in the conference in coach Derek Mason’s first year after succeeding James Franklin, who stole away in the night and bolted for Penn State.
“We have a good group leaving,” Mason said. “They are the most celebrated seniors in Vanderbilt history. But our focus has to be on the future. When we wake up (Sunday), it’s time go grind.”
Dobbs started off wobbly.
On the Vols’ first play from scrimmage, Dobbs’ pass was intercepted, but a roughing-the-passer penalty on Kyle Woestmann wiped out the play.
The Vols could do nothing wit that possession and was forced to punt.
“I thought he pressed for the first time,” Jones said of Dobbs. “But when we needed him down the stretch, he stepped up and delivered.”
A few minutes later, the Vols’ offense was still sluggish and had only 20 yards, but Sutton’s long return for the game’s first touchdown seemed to ignite Tennessee.
Through the first 11 games, Sutton had 72 yards on 11 punt returns. He had a scoring punt return in 2013 for the first such play since Dale Carter was terrorizing opponents.
Tennessee had a first-and-goal opportunity later in the first quarter, but its 15-play, 63-yard drive fizzled in the red zone and Medley’s field goal pushed the lead to 10-0.
It was Medley’s 19th field goal in 25 attempts, tying him for the fifth-most in a season with Jeff Hall (1998) and Greg Burke (1990).
After that the Vols’ offense went stagnant with Hurd sidelined. He carried only five times for 21 yards and did not return to the action.
Place-kicker Tommy Openshaw got the Commodores on the scoreboard with a 36-yard field goal with 9:52 left in the second quarter.
Robinette’s scoring strike to Scheu at the 5:25 mark tied the game and Vanderbilt had the momentum. The pass play capped an 88-yard, seven-play drive that used 2:52 of the clock.
The Vols gained possession on their own 6.
Suddenly, the offense started clicking again.
Dobbs, with Lane by his side, engineered the game’s longest drive and finished it off by flying over defenders and landing in the end zone with with 3:49 left in the first half.
The Vols had 164 yards of offense in the half with 105 coming on the ground. Dobbs had 59 yards on 6-of-12 passing and rushed for another 59 and a touchdown.
Alton Howard had three receptions for 47 yards and finished with five catches for 55 yards.
Vanderbilt, coming off a 51-0 loss to Mississippi State, had 130 yards of offense and used three quarterbacks. Robinette had 52 passing. Two completions for 45 yards went to Scheu.
Defensively, Tennessee’s Curt Maggitt pushed his sack total to 11 this season, tying him for fourth place with Leonard Little and Todd Kelly (1992).
And freshman Derek Barnett had five tackles for loss and a sack. Barnett now has 20.5 TFLs on the year, fifth-most in a season. His 10 sacks in 2014 shares the sixth-best total with Ronnie McCartney (1975).
Scoring Summary
Tennessee 10 7 7 0 – 24
Vanderbilt 0 10 7 0 – 17
First Quarter
TEN – Cameron Sutton 76 punt return (Aaron Medley kick), 8:18
TEN – FG Medley 36, 0:51
Second Quarter
VAN – FG Tommy Openshaw 36, 9:52
VAN – Steven Scheu 36 pass from Pat Robinette, 5:25
TEN – Joshua Dobbs 1 run (Medley kick), 1:29
Third Quarter
TEN – Dobbs 8 run (Medley kick), 3:19
VAN – Ralph Webb 3 run (Openshaw kick), 0:22
Attendance – 40,350
YARDSTICK
TEN VAN
First Downs 19 19
Rushes-Yards 45-170 36-123
Passing Yards 92 149
Att-Com-Int 11-20-2 13-30-3
Total Yards 65-262 66-272
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Punts.-Avg. 7-48.4 6-46.0
Penalties-Yds. 6-55 7-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Tennessee: Joshua Dobbs 21-91, Marlin Lane 16-51, Jalen Hurd 5-21, , Alton Howard 1-8, Von Pearson 1-0, Team 1-minus 1; Vanderbilt: Ralph Webb 16-55, Pat Robinette 12-37, Dallas Rivers 5-23, Johnny McCrary 3-8.
PASSING — Tennessee: Dobbs 11-20-2 92; Vanderbilt: Robinette 11-22-2 131, McCrary 2-7-1 18, Josh Grady 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING — Tennessee: Howard 5-55, Lane 3-25, Pearson 3-12; Vanderbilt: Steven Scheu 3-62, Latevius Rayford 3-35, Kris Kentera 1-18, Chandler Dorrell 2-14, Nathan Marcus 1-11, Caleb Scott 1-5, Davis Dudchock 1-4, Webb 1-0.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Tennessee celebrates a 24-17 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. The victory extended the Vols' season into a postseason bowl game.
photo by Tennessee Athletics