Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs riddled Missouri's defense for 413 total yards in the Vols' 63-37 SEC football game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Dobbs, playing his final home game, also was responsible for five touchdowns.
photo by Dennis Nowood
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Florida beat LSU to win the SEC East title Saturday.
That rendered Tennessee’s game against Missouri only slightly meaningful.
Plus, Missouri was playing angry while attempting to put a little ray of sunshine into a poor season and begrudging its role as a 15-point underdog.
Tennessee (8-3, 4-3) managed to stay ahead of the Tigers by riding another superlative dual-threat performance by quarterback Joshua Dobbs in his final home-field appearance and put a 63-37 whipping on the visitors.
“We’re disappointed about that (Florida winning the division), but we still have a lot to play for,” Vols offensive lineman Brett Kendrick said.
We’ve got a big game coming up next week versus Vanderbilt, which is a huge rivalry game. We’re playing for a good bowl game and a 10-win season.
“We’re not going to hang our heads about it.”
Running back John Kelly was more to the point about Gators’ win at LSU.
“It is what it is,” said Kelly, who rushed for 101 yards and a 27-yard fourth-quarter TD.
Saturday’s pigskin gunfight before 101,012 fans at Neyland Stadium was remindful to the teams’ slugfest in 2012 when the Tigers pulled out a 51-48, four-overtime victory.
Moving ahead four years, the Tigers and Vols combined for a whopping 1,352 total yards and 14 touchdowns, five coming in the fourth quarter. The Vols scored 28 points in the final 15 minutes to pull away for the bittersweet victory.
“I’m not going to sit here and complain,” Vols coach Butch Jones said. “We just won eight games and that hasn’t been done here in a long time. We have an opportunity to win nine games.”
Actually, the Vols accomplished both of those things in 2015 when they were 9-4 after an impressive 45-6 rout of Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.
“I liked the way we came out in the second half,” Jones said. “I challenged them a little bit at halftime (the Vols led 21-20 at the break). We knew it would be this type of game. Missouri has an explosive offense.”
In 2012, the Tigers pulled out a 51-48, four-overtime win and the two teams combined for a whopping 1,352 total yards and 14 touchdowns, five coming in the fourth quarter – the Vols scored 28 fourth-quarter points, putting the stadium scoreboard on the brink of exploding.
It was Tennessee’s first home win versus Missouri in three tries, but it could have meant a lot more.
If LSU had won Florida game, the Vols had a chance to capture the SEC East title by beating Missouri and Vanderbilt next week in Nashville. The Gators crushed those hopes.
To their credit, the Vols wound up mauling the Tigers and outscored them 42-17 in the second half.
Dobbs passed for 223 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 190 more with two scores. Two of his TD passes covering 49 and 5 yards went to Jauan Jennings and Josh Malone snagged the other one on a 59-yard play.
The Alpharetta, Ga., native called his own number 10 times and gained 190 on the ground, including scoring romps of 30 and 70 yards after intermission. The 70-yarder was a career-long for Dobbs, bettering his previous long of 62 against Florida last season.
Dobbs, who has accounted for five touchdowns in back-to-back games, had the lion’s share of the team’s 609 total yards.
“Every single game I’m going to play hard and do the things I need to do to put this team in a position to win,” he said. “I was just thankful to finish out may last game at Neyland strong, especially with a victory.”
In his last two games, Dobbs put up 774 total yards with 10 touchdowns.
“You can just see the confidence he has in himself and everyone around him,” Jones said. “People don’t understand the rigors of his academic workload he has and all the demands that people place on him and being the quarterback at the University of Tennessee.
“And in Josh Dobbs’ world, there is never a bad day. He’s always got that smile and he has the composure.”
With 2:24 left, Jones called a timeout and brought Dobbs off the field to a standing ovation from the fans that were still in the mammoth stadium.
“I think he deserved that,” Jones said. “That was everything he has meant to our football program.”
Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara scored twice on runs of 4 and 2 yards ad gained 55 yards on the day. Kelly got his touchdown one play after Dobbs high-stepped 40 yards on a keeper.
“It has been tough to stop us all season, and it definitely was tough to stop us tonight.”
The Vols’ final TD came on defensive end Jonathan Kongbo’s 59-yard interception return with 4:31 left in the game.
Missouri followed up Kentucky’s smashing of Tennessee’s defense a week ago by piling up 740 total yards, breaking the old single-game record of 721 Tennessee allowed Troy in 2012.
Tigers running back Damarea Crockett, a freshman out of Little Rock, Ark., set a school record by rushing for 225 yards on 24 carries. Ish Witter added 163 yards on 31 carries – Missouri ran 110 plays – and that’s the third time this season that two opposing backs have gained 100 yards in the same game.
“Offensively, 740 yards is a pretty big day,” Missouri coach Barry Odom said. “We ran 110 plays, that’s pretty good night for those two guys. You see these stats and you don’t look at the other side, and it should be a good night, but it wasn’t. Wish I could have found a way to win the ballgame for them, but I didn’t.”
The Tigers’ J’Mon Moore joined the century club with nine receptions for 134 yards
There was little positive about Tennessee’s defensive performance aside of Derek Barnett recording his 31st career quarterback sack when he got to Missouri’s Drew Lock for a 7-yard loss early in the third quarter, and getting four turnovers – two fumbles, two interceptions.
Barnett is now one sack behind former Vols and NFL great Reggie White for the all-time record.
“Every time I step on the field that’s what I’m worried about is winning and if that’s me getting a sack and helping the team win then good.”
SCORING
Missouri 6 14 7 10 – 37
Tennessee 7 14 14 28 – 63
First Quarter
UM – Damarae Crockett 22 run (Tucker McCann kick), 9:07
UT – Jauan Jennings 49 pass from Joshua Dobbs (Aaron Medley kick), 6:01
Second Quarter
UT – Josh Malone 59 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 13:50
UM – Drew Lock 2 run (McCann kick), 8:00
UT – Alvin Kamara 4 run (Medley kick), 5:00
UM – Ish Witter 2 run (McCann kick), 2:17
Third Quarter
UT – Jennings 5 pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 13:58
UM – Witter 1 run (McCann kick), 8:51
UT – Dobbs 30 run (Medley kick), 2:39
Fourth Quarter
UM – FG McCann 28, 14:50
UT – Dobbs 70 run (Medley kick), 13:20
UT – Kamara 2 run (Medley kick), 9:25
UM – Dimetrios Mason 50 pass from Lock (McCann kick), 7:57
UT – John Kelly 27 run (Medley kick), 5:52
UT – Jonathan Kongbo 59 interception return (Medley kick), 4:31
Attendance: 101,012
YARDSTICK
UM UT
First Downs 41 24
Rushes-Yards 67-420 45-386
Passing Yards 320 223
Comp-Att-Int 21-43-2 15-22-0
Plays-Total Yds 110-740 67-609
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Punts-Avg 2-46.0 4-46.2
Penalties-Yds 7-51 5-45
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Missouri: Damarae Crockett 24-225, Ish Witter 31-163, Nate Strong 8-39, Josh Augusta 1-0, Drew Lock 3-minus 7; Tennessee: Josh Dobbs 10-190, John Kelly 18-101, Alvin Kamara 12-55, Tyler Byrd 2-24, Carlin Fils-Aime 2-12, Jauan Jennings 1-4.
PASSING – Missouri: Lock 21-43-2-320; Tennessee: Dobbs 15-22-0-223.
RECEIVING – Missouri: J’Mon Moore 9-134, Dimetrios Mason 3-68, Johnathon Johnson 2-41, Sean Culkin 2-35, Kendall Blanton 2-21, Chris Black 1-15, Emanuel Hall 1-8, Crockett 1-0; Tennessee: Josh Malone 3-83, Jennings 4-67, Brandon Johnson 1-22, Jason Croom 1-18, Kamara 3-14, Ethan Wolf 1-11, Byrd 2-8.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Running back Damarea Crockett shredded Tennessee's defense for 225 yards rushing on 24 carries. Crockett was a key reason the Tigers were able to gain 420 yards on 67 carries, but they still lost by 26 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood