Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs had a big game in Saturday's 52-21 rout of Kentucky. Dobbs rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more while picking up 284 yards of the Vols' 482 total yards.
photo by Tennessee Athletics
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tennessee touchdowns came at overwhelmed Kentucky from every imaginable angle Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
And Tennessee may have started another late-season push toward bowl qualification with a smashing 52-21 drubbing of the Wildcats before 60,886 fans, most of which were Vols faithful near the end.
“I thought it was a very complete game,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “We had complimentary football in all three phrases: offense, defense and special teams.
I thought our team showed some maturity on the road.”
The Vols (4-4, 2-3), coming off a tough 19-14 loss to nationally ranked Alabama, have now won four straight and 30 of the last 31 games against the Wildcats. Saturday’s victory was the 77th all-time in the series, most against any opponent in Tennessee football history.
The variety how how the Vols scored was remarkable and the Wildcats (4-4, 2-4) couldn’t stop the onslaught.
Long distance.
Evan Berry returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Berry’s third kickoff return for a score tied the Vols’ school record set by Willie Gault in 1980. Berry is the fifth UT player to return a kick 100 yards and first since Leonard Scott against Georgia in 1999.
“They just give me the green light to do whatever,” Berry said. “We practice it enough and I know my decisions and how to judge the ball. The kicker kicked a line drive, so the coverage teams (weren’t) far down the field. (Micah) Abernathy told me to take it.”
Less than 3 minutes later, Cameron Sutton bolted 84 yards for a punt-return score.
Vols defensive lineman Corey Vereen says the impact of such a play is easy to measure.
“It’s electric,” Vereen said. “When you see something like that it lifts everyone’s spirits.”
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who had a brilliant performance, save a fumble the Wildcats turned into a 77-yard touchdown return and one deflected interception, connected with wide receiver Josh Malone on a 75-yard touchdown pass.
“It was a shot play,” Dobbs said. “We got pressure to the boundary and Jalen (Hurd) did a great job picking it up, Malone went over the top and I was able to put the ball in the right location. It was a big spark play.
“It was a touchdown. I’ve hit deep balls before, but it was great to complete one for a touchdown.”
The almost routine variety.
Dobbs accounted for three other touchdowns – 28- and 1-yard runs and a 37-yard screen pass to tailback Jalen Hurd on a third-and-8 that pushed Tennessee’s lead to 31-14 with 10:56 left in the third quarter.
“It’s not acceptable,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “It’s not OK. Give (Tennessee credit), they beat our butts in all phases. I’m sure the players are frustrated. They ought to be. They ought to be a little big mad and upset.”
Hurd also scored on a 4-yard run, the touchdown set up by Darrin Kirkland’s interception and return to Kentucky’s 4.
That play capped the Vols’ third consecutive 75-yard scoring drive that took a combined 16 plays.
“We are trying to make all of the plays that we can when they come to us,” Kirkland said.
The long pass play to Malone – the team’s longest of the season – was a one-play march and came just 13 seconds after Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles scored on a 1-yard run to slice Tennessee’s lead to 14-10.
“As long as we go out and execute and control what we can control, we will be successful,” Dobbs said.
Tennessee had 327 yards of offense in building a 24-14 halftime lead. Kentucky had 117 yards at the half.
The Vols then outscored Kentucky, 42-7, in the second and third quarters to open a 32-point advantage.
A few minutes after Towles’ touchdown, running back Alvin Kamara dashed 63 yards to the Kentucky 1 and Dobbs’ second rushing score came on the next play.
“I wish I would have gotten into the end zone,” Kamara said, “but we got the touchdown and got momentum going into the half. It looked exactly how we had drawn it up in practice. The linemen got on their blocks and I hit it.”
Aaron Medley added a 44-yard field goal and seven extra points to the Vols’ offensive onslaught that produced the most points against Kentucky since a 52-50, four-overtime win in Lexington in 2007.
Before turning the offense over to freshman Quinten Dormady, Dobbs completed 16-of-26 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns with the one interception. Dobbs ran seven times for 51 yards and two more scores.
However, Dobbs’ fumble led directly to Kentucky’s first touchdown when Marcus McWilson stripped the ball from him and Corey Johnson rumbled 77 yards for the score.
Malone caught four passes for 103 yards, including the bomb in the Vols’ 28-point third quarter that turned the game into a full-fledged rout.
Tennessee returns to action next Saturday, hosting South Carolina at Neyland Stadium. The game will be televised by the SEC Network. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
SCORING
Tennessee 7 17 28 0 – 52
Kentucky 7 7 7 0 – 21
First Quarter
UK – Cory Johnson 77 fumble return (Austin MacGinnis kick), 8:23
UT – Joshua Dobbs 28 run (Aaron Medley kick), 2:45
Second Quarter
UT – FG Medley 44, 11:54
UK – Patrick Towles 1 run (MacGinnis kick), 5:39
UT – Josh Malone 75 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 5:26
UT – Dobbs 1 run (Medley kick), 0:40
Third Quarter
UT – Jalen Hurd 37 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 10:56
UT – Hurd 4 run (Medley kick), 10:14
UK – Garrett Johnson 39 pass from Towles (MacGinnis kick), 8:34
UT – Evan Berry 100 kickoff return (Medley kick), 8:19
UT – Cameron Sutton 84 punt return (Medley kick), 5:29
Attendance – 60,886
YARDSTICK
UT UK
First Downs 21 18
Rushes-Yards 43-249 32-165
Passing Yards 233 184
Comp-Att-Int 16-26-1 16-33-1
Plays-Total Yds 69-482 55-349
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1
Punts-Avg 2-35.5 6-39.8
Penalties-Yds 6-65 9-93
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Tennessee: Alvin Kamara 4-70, Jalen Hurd 18-61, John Kelly 10-58, Joshua Dobbs 7-51, Joe Young 2-11, Team 1-0, Jauan Jennings 1-minus 2; Kentucky: Mikel Horton 14-109, JoJo Kemp 4-24, Patrick Towles 9-20, Boom Williams 4-12, Garrett Johnson 1-0.
PASSING – Tennessee: Dobbs 16-26-1 233; Kentucky: Towles 16-33-1 184.
RECEIVING – Tennessee: Josh Malone 4-103, Von Pearson 5-37, Hurd 1-37, Ethan Wolf 2-27, Kamara 2-13, Jennings 1-11, Josh Smith 1-5; Kentucky: Johnson 2-50, Dorian Baker 5-43, Jeff Badet 3-29, Blake Bone 1-22, Horton 1-19, Ryan Timmons 2-16, C.J. Conrad 1-6, Williams 1-minus 1.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Wide receiver Josh Malone is lifted by an offensive lineman after a 75-yard touchdown reception against Kentucky on Saturday night. The Vols had plenty to celebrate in a 52-21 SEC victory in Lexington, Ky.
photo by Tennessee Athletics