TN Vols win Outback Bowl, beat Northwestern 45

Can Tennessee continue its roll in the Outback Bowl against a Northwestern squad that, judging by the difference between its offense and defense, is the most one-sided team the SEC will face in this bowl season?

“It was awesome and you could tell that we were really, like, wearing on them”, Hurd said.

An 8-4 season for Tennessee has been blanketed by the margin of defeat in their four losses.

The Tennessee Volunteers (8-4) are looking for their back-to-back postseason wins through the leadership of Philip Fulmer.

The Tennessee Volunteers continued their impressive late-season surge with a dominating 45-6 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2016 Outback Bowl.

KEY MATCHUP Tennessee dual-threat QB Joshua Dobbs against a tough, physical Northwestern defense that ranks third in the nation in passing efficiency defense and 11th in total defense. Unlike good rushing teams built around one NFL-prospect back, the Vols feature three guys with more than 600 yards, led by RB Jalen Hurd, who gained 1,158 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. However this is also a team that beat Stanford in a game they controlled from start to finish on the opening week.

The Vols picked off Northwestern starter Clayton Thorson and reserve Zack Oliver twice each.

Hurd, voted the Outback Bowl MVP, rushed 24 times for 130 yards and a touchdown, and not a one of his carries resulted in a negative gain. Since Tennessee won, there will be free Bloomin’ Onions for all. Pat Fitzgerald has been a part of three of the double-digit win teams — as a player in 1995, and as head coach in 2012 and this season. The Volunteers went 67 yards on 14 plays, seven of the last eight of those handoffs to Hurd, including a fourth-and-1 conversion at the Northwestern 5.

After Friday’s win, which clinched Tennessee’s first nine-win season since 2007 and gave the Vols wins in back-to-back bowls for the first time since 1996-97, Jones said his program is what? But I’m going defense to talk about one of the more underrated players in all of college football – Jalen Reeves-Maybin. The defending-champion Buckeyes were in the top four until a 17-14 home loss to Michigan State in the penultimate game of the regular season knocked them out of a spot in the Big Ten title game. They managed to duck Michigan State, Ohio State, and IN, and IN step up game against Michigan and Iowa, the Wildcats allowed 78 points, 872 totals yards, and almost 500 yards on the ground. The stout Northwestern defense was unbreakable early but couldn’t contain a team that had thrice scored more than 50 points, and a Northwestern offense that over 13 weeks varied between electric, resilient and soporific gathered little energy to overcome a defense that held Alabama to 19 points. A few plays later the Vols punched it in with a 14-yard scramble from QB Joshua Dobbs. It has given up 173.6 passing yards per game during that span.

Two more garbage time touchdowns followed, including a 99-yard Evan Berry interception return in the final minute, to seal the blowout win.

At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Hurd is a load to bring to the turf and is extremely effective in the red zone.

Tennessee would go on to score a field goal on the next possession.

Dobbs put the game out of reach with a highlight reel score early in the fourth. Northwestern has allowed 99 total rushing yards to quarterbacks this season.