Tennessee and Northwestern both came into the game with high confidence as each team was coming into the Outback Bowl with 5 game winning streaks.  

The Volunteers were a young group who had been through a season of close calls and an early season inability to finish games.

Northwestern's regular season was all positive except for 2 midseason blowouts to the hands of Michigan and Iowa.

At the start of the game Northwestern's defense was standing strong while Tennessee was missing opportunities with unforced errors. With eight penalties for 90 yards, Tennessee's penalty yards were well above their season average. This seemed to be a disconcerting start to the game for the young Tennessee squad, but the Vols were able to turn the game around in a hurry.

The scoring started at the end of the first quarter when Tennessee Quarterback Josh Dobbs took matters into his own hands and rushed the ball 14 yards for the touchdown.  After another drive by the Volunteers and a made field goal by Aaron Medley, the Northwestern Wildcats were able to put together a drive of their own.

Wildcat quarterback Clayton Thorson was able to run around the Tennessee defense and orchestrated a 12 play 75 yard touchdown drive to put 6 on the board. These six points were all that the Wildcats would produce, though.  Not only did they miss the point after, Northwestern came up empty handed for the rest of the game.

Four costly interceptions and heavy pass rushing pressure by Tennessee's defense plagued Northwestern for the rest of the game.

On the other side of the ball, the volunteers were having a field day running the ball. Sophomore running back Jalen Hurd ran for 130 yards and a touchdown while Junior quarterback Josh Dobbs rushed for 2 touchdowns of his own.

In the closing seconds of the game, defensive back Evan Berry was able to put a stamp on a terrific sophomore season. While earning First Team All-SEC honors for his special team abilities in kickoff returns, Evan is trying to outshine his brother Eric Berry's terrific career at Tennessee.  Evan was able to get a step closer to that goal by ending the game with a 100 yard interception return for a touchdown.

Northwestern could have finished their season in a much worse way. Both quarterbacks Clayton Thorson and Zack Oliver struggled with 2 interceptions each. The Wildcats strong point was supposed to be their defense, but that defense was steam rolled for 45 points by Tennessee.

The game was a bidding of good things to come for Tennessee in the future.  Although the heartbreaking losses earlier in the season are impossible to erase, a Outback bowl victory over a top 15 ranked opponent is definitely a strong stepping stone for head coach Butch Jones' brick by brick mentality.

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About the author
Collin Gaddes
Sports fanatic and stats connoisseur.