Vols’ dominant win starts hype for 2016 season

This years game featured the Tennessee Volunteers against the Northwestern Wildcats.

Northwestern (10-3) sputtered offensively and was unable to keep up with the stronger, faster Vols defensively in falling short on a bid to finish with a school-record 11 victories. Hurd went for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns during the regular season.

“There was nothing really that was going to stop me from playing”, he said. They will try to win their 11th when they take on the Tennessee Volunteers on New Year’s Day in the Outback bowl.

The Outback Bowl features some impressive backs but it could be Tennessee QB Josh Dobbs that will be the key against Northwestern.

That’s why he has put an added emphasis on halting Tennessee’s explosive return duo of Evan Berry and Cameron Sutton in Friday’s Outback Bowl. “With the heat, taking care of their bodies, the workmanlike approach that we displayed – not only here at the bowl site, but back home in Knoxville”. You could tell that we were really wearing them down.

“I battled a little hamstring pull at the beginning of the week”, said Hurd. “Summer workouts are the hardest conditioning we have”. We mentioned earlier the schedule was littered with weak offenses and yet the Vols finished 10th in the SEC in yards per play allowed (5.33).

An Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2014, this three-year starter set a Northwestern University single-game record with six tackles for loss versus Nebraska this past season.

Fitzgerald-“You’ve just got to expect the unexpected”.

The Vols had four penalties for 50 yards in the opening 15 minutes and didn’t find the scoreboard until Joshua Dobbs’ 14-yard touchdown run gave the Vols a 7-0 lead with just 14 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

It was going so well for Tennessee in the second half that even mistakes turned into touchdowns. Hurd finished the game with 130 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown.

When Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald begins his preparations for a game week, the first tape he pops in is an opponent’s special teams. The sophomore running back converted a big fourth-down attempt by the Cats, gained 16 yards on the ensuing carry and scored from five yards out to cap the touchdown drive. Today, Thorson completed 8-of-20 passes for 57 yards and two picks before giving way to Zack Oliver, who also tossed two interceptions (including a pick six).

The Vols, however, came right back. Oklahoma State – WR James Washington caught 52 passes for 1,077 yards (nearly 21-yard average) and 10 TDs. He won the Outback bowl MVP award and became the first Tennessee player in history to rush for over 100 yards in two bowl games. Tennessee hit the repeat button in many senses on Friday, thoroughly dismantling the Wildcats just as the Vols did to Iowa a few hours to the east in 2015 in Jacksonville.

The Outback Bowl is one of the best bowl games of the year because when it’s over you’re either getting free Coconut Shrimp or a free Bloomin’ Onion from Outback Steakhouse. The bowl was originally known as the Hall of Fame Bowl for its first nine years, kicking off with Boston College’s 27-24 win over Georgia in 1986…. And in 26 matchups between the SEC and Big Ten since 2010, the SEC has gone 17-9. The Vols took the only other matchup, 48-28, in the 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl.