Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs, tip-toeing along the sideline, passed for 223 yards, rushed for 138 and was responsible for five touchdowns Saturday in the Vols' 49-36 victory over Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
photo by Dennis Norwood
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky kept painting Tennessee’s red zone blue, but kept holding the Wildcats to field goals while the Vols were scoring touchdowns here Saturday.
That translated into Tennessee continuing the dominance of their longest rival with a 49-36 Southeastern Conference football victory before 101,075 fans on a sun-bathed afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
Kentucky (5-5, 4-4) pushed inside the Vols’ 25 six times and came away with two touchdowns and three field goals – the TD came on the Wildcats’ first possession of the game – and three Austin MacGinnis field goals.
The Wildcats got 23 red zone points.
“Any time you get in the red zone and cause them to kick field goals, it’s big for your defense,” linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said.
On the other end, Tennessee (7-3, 3-3) found the end zone frequently and was 3 for in the red zone, accounting for 21 points
“When you play in the red zone it is a certain mentality,” Tennessee defensive lineman Latroy Lewis said. “I don’t care if you are playing in the little league or the Super Bowl; it is different when you get down there.”
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs, now 4-0 against the Wildcats, had another brilliant game against the Kentuckians. He threw three touchdown passes to Josh Smith, Ethan Wolf and Josh Malone, covering 24, 10 and 51 yards, respectively.
Dobbs now has 72 career touchdown passes in 34 games. The senior also scored a rushing TD on a 1-yard zip into the checkerboard end zone. That run extended the Vols’ streak of 25 games with a rushing TD, the second-longest FBS streak in the nation behind Alabama’s 29.
Dobbs completed 11 of 17 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for 138 yards on 13 carries with two TDs and had 361 total yards.
The two touchdown runs gave Dobbs 26 in his career, which broke Jimmy Streater’s old mark of 25.
“It’s funny because my mom told me I was in the ballpark (of the record),” Dobbs said. “You celebrate records and it’s an awesome feeling.”
Dobbs has put up remarkable numbers in his four games against the Wildcats.
He has passed for 952 yards, ran for 289 and 1,241 total yards with 16 touchdowns, 10 on the ground.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “I congratulated him on a great game and (said) I was glad I don’t have to see him again.”
Tailback Alvin Kamara returned to the lineup after missing two weeks with an injury and churned out 128 yards on 10 tries and scored on runs of 16 and 29 yards.
Kamara looked fresh and ran like he hadn’t missed any action at all.
Freshman tailback John Kelly gained 94 yards on 16 carries, giving the Vols 363 ground yards.
“We push each other,” Kamara said, referring to Kelly. “With him being younger than me, I’m always pushing. Honestly, I really talk a lot of smack to him. He runs with passion and wants to score every time he touches the ball.”
Malone had 92 receiving yards on four catches.
Jauan Jennings snagged only one pass for 19 yards, but was played one defensive play and caught Kentucky’s “Hail Mary” throw at the Vols’ 10 as the first half ended. He made news against Georgia by leaping high and catching Dobbs’ “Hail Mary” pass on the game’s final play to beat Georgia.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Vols defensive back Micah Abernathy said. “Jauan is one of those people who can play both sides of the ball. Whether you believe it or not, we do that in practice.”
The Vols built a 21-13 halftime lead, but was able to keep denying the Wildcats the opportunity to keep up on the scoreboard.
The Wildcats were amazingly effective with its vaunted ground game, piling up 443 yards with Stanley Williams leading the way with 127 on 16 attempts. JoJo Kemp added 90.
Quarterback Stephen Johnson passed for 192 yards, hitting 12 of 29 throws.
While losing the point battle, Kentucky outgained the Vols with 618 total yards, 426 coming on the ground. Tennessee had 586, including 363 running.
“That’s a prideful group,” Vols coach Butch Jones said of his defense. “We have to get that corrected, plus the rush yards and big plays we gave up in the run game.”
Lewis added when asked about Kentucky’s rushing success, “It is unacceptable, and we understand that.”
Kentucky, which has dropped five in row and 31 of the last 32 to Tennessee – the Vols have won16 straight in Knoxville -- in a 112-year-old rivalry, managed just one MacGinnis field goal in the second half, a 33-yarder in the third period.
While the defense was stifling the Wildcats until Kemp’s 71-yard TD gallop early in the fourth quarter, the Vols were working efficiently with their offense.
After MacGinnis’ kick, the Vols drove 92 yards in five plays. The scoring play probably came out of a dusty old playbook that Gen. Robert R. Neyland left behind -- a flea-flicker that Dobbs turned into the 51-yard bomb to Malone.
That pushed the Vols’ lead to 28-16.
A few minutes later, Kentucky’s promising drive went up in smoke when running back Kenny Snell Jr., working out of the wildcat formation, fumbled at the Vols’ 4 and Lewis recovered.
After the play, the Wildcats’ Nick Haynes was slapped with an unsportsmanlike penalty, moving the ball to the 19.
Kamara capped the 96-yard march on the sixth play with his nifty 16-yard TD run with 3:18 left in the third period.
Kentucky refused to throw in the towel and got a quick 71-yard TD run from Kemp. A two-point conversion run failed.
The Vols weren’t finished either.
After a nice kickoff return Marquill Osborne, a freshman out of Cornelius, N.C., Dobbs bolted 45 yards for his fourth touchdown of a game that gave Tennessee a 79-24-9 record in the rivalry.
That was a 58-yard drive in just two plays.
Kamara added his 29-yard jaunt that ended in the end zone that produced a 49-22 victory.
On the previous defensive series, Tennessee’s Derek Barnett got his 30th career sack (ninth this season), moving him to within two of all-time great Reggie White’s school record. He was double-teamed most of the game.
“(That) can be a little frustrating,” Barnett said. “You got to keep grinding.”
Said Jones, “(Derek) is the poster child for toughness, but it (double teaming) is a compliment.”
Kentucky’s Sihiem King capped the day’s assault on the scoreboard with a 24-yard scamper down the far sideline.
The Wildcats recovered an onside kick and Johnson later scored on a 2-yard run.
Kentucky, with 1:41 showing, tried a second onside kick, but the Vols’ Colton Jumper recovered at the Wildcats’ 43.
In the early going, Stanley Williams got the Wildcats on the board with a 10-yard run.
The Vols had an answer – Dobbs’ 24-yard scoring strike from Dobbs.
MacGinnis kicked a 37-yard field goal.
Dobbs ran 35 yards and Tennessee regained the lead at 14-10.
MacGinnis’ second field goal trimmed the Vols’ lead to14-13.
Tennessee came right back.
Dobbs hit Malone on an 18-yard gainer and connected with Tyler Byrd on a 44-yard strike, moving the Vols to Kentucky’s 13. A few plays later, Dobbs scored from the 10 for the 21-13 halftime edge.
“There (were) a number of times we answered their scores and that was big because football is a game of momentum, and you’re responsible for creating your own momentum,” Jones said.
The Vols will stay at home to play Missouri next Saturday and the game will start at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by CBS. Kentucky entertains Austin Peay.
SCORING
Kentucky 10 3 3 20 – 36
Tennessee 14 7 14 14 – 49
First Quarter
UK – Stanley Williams 10 run (Austin MacGinnis kick), 13:09
UT – Josh Smith 24 pass from Joshua Dobbs (Aaron Medley kick), 10:54
UK – FG MacGinnis 37, 3:31
UT – Dobbs 1 run (Medley kick), 1:30
Second Quarter
UK – FG MacGinnis 25, 9:27
UT – Ethan Wolf 10 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 6:27
Third Quarter
UK – FG MacGinnis 33, 12:05
UT – Josh Malone 51 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 10:08
Fourth Quarter
UT – Alvin Kamara 16 run (Medley kick), 3:18
UK – Jojo Kemp 71 run (run failed), 12:30
UT – Dobbs 45 run (Medley kick), 11:51
UT – Sihiem King 24 run (MacGinnis kick), 3:58
UK – Stephen Johnson 2 run (MacGinnis kick), 1:41
Attendance: 101,075
YARDSTICK
UK UT
First Downs 29 28
Rushes-Yards 58-426 38-363
Passing Yards 192 223
Comp-Att-Int 12-29-1 11-18-1
Plays-Total Yds 87-618 56-586
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-2
Punts-Avg 6-41.0 4-48.8
Penalties-Yds 6-59 9-64
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Kentucky: Stanley Williams 16-127, Jojo Kemp 8-90, Benny Snell 15-79, Sihiem King 6-75, Stephen Johnson 10-72, OE 2-minus 8, J.D. Harmon 1-minus 9; Tennessee: Joshua Dobbs 13-138, Alvin Kamara 10-128, John Kelly 14-90, Jauan Jennings 1-7.
PASSING – Kentucky: Johnson 12-29-1-192; Tennessee: Joshua Dobbs 11-17-1-223, Team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – Kentucky: Blake Bone 2-57, Dorian Baker 3-35, C.J. Conrad 1-22, Garrett Johnson 1-19, Tavin Richardson 1-17, Ryan Timmons 1-17, Ryan Timmons 1-15, Charles Walker 1-9, Greg Hart 1-1; Tennessee: Josh Malone 4-92, Ethan Wolf 4-44, Tyler Byrd 1-44, Josh Smith 1-24, Jennings 1-19.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Tailback Alvin Kamara returned to action after missing two games due to an injury and helped the Vols' offense pile up 586 yards of total offense Saturday. He rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Vols beat Kentucky 49-36.
photo by Dennis Norwood