Tennessee destroys Northwestern 45-6 in Outback Bowl

Start up the Tennessee hype train again.

Using a swarming defense and a balanced offensive attack, the Vols completely dominated an overmatched Northwestern team to win the Outback Bowl, 45-6. Tennessee’s defense allowed only 261 yards and forced four turnovers in the win.

And while the defense completely overwhelmed the one-dimensional Northwestern offense, the Vols racked up 420 yards, including 226 on the ground. Bruising sophomore Jalen Hurd led the way with 130 yards and a score while Alvin Kamara added 52 yards. Quarterback Josh Dobbs also had a big day for UT, throwing for 166 yards while rushing for 48 yards and two scores. 

Both offenses struggled to find their footing early on, but once Tennessee got into a rhythm, Northwestern had no shot.

The Vols first struck on a 14-yard Dobbs touchdown run and then tacked on a field goal on their next drive to take a 10-0 lead. Northwestern followed with its best drive of the game – a 12-play, 75-yard effort that culminated in a five-yard Justin Jackson touchdown run, cutting the lead to 10-6 (extra point missed) with 5:40 left in the first half.

Tennessee quickly responded and extended the lead when Kamara went 11 yards untouched for a score, giving the Vols a 17-6 halftime lead.

The second half was all Tennessee.

Hurd reached paydirt from three yards out midway through the third and the defense followed it up by intercepting struggling Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson for the second time.

Dobbs put the game out of reach with a highlight reel score early in the fourth. The junior lined up in shotgun, but couldn’t handle the snap. After retrieving the ball, Dobbs took off running and scampered 18 yards down the sideline and dove for the pylon while somehow staying inbounds.

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

The win is Tennessee’s seventh in its last eight games. The only loss over that stretch was a five-point defeat at the hands of College Football Playoff finalist Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

That great finish, coupled with Friday’s display of dominance, should give the Vols a considerable amount of hype headed into the 2016 season. There was plenty of it surrounding the program last year too after the Vols trounced Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl, but a 3-4 start to this season quickly squelched the team’s SEC title hopes.

However, with a large majority of its top contributors returning to the fold with another year of experience under their belts, maybe 2016 will finally be the year the Vols return to the top tier of the conference.

The loss gives Northwestern a 10-3 record to finish the year, tying the best win total in Pat Fitzgerald’s 10-year tenure as head coach. The team had nice wins over Stanford and Wisconsin on the year, but its three losses – to Michigan, Iowa and Tennessee – came by an average margin of 35.7 points. 

For more Tennessee news, visit VolQuest.com.

For more Northwestern news, visit WildcatReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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