Outback Bowl 2015: Tennessee pulverizes Northwestern, restarts the hype train

I wrote that a year ago, when Tennessee was last ripping to shreds an overmatched Big Ten team in a bowl game. The Vols had wrapped up a weird season with a cathartic win, one that solidified a spot in the S&P+ top 25 despite a 7-6 record.

It became obvious by the second quarter of Tennessee’s TaxSlayer Bowl romp last year that the Vols were going to end up on the “too much, too soon” hype train. They were going to begin in the top 15 and lose to some excellent opponents, and a top 25 finish was going to feel like a disappointment because the bar was set in the wrong place.

Update:

The annual Outback Bowl giveaway is here! Once again, on Jan. 2, the day after the Outback Bowl, Outback Steakhouse will either be giving away free Bloomin’ Onions or Coconut Shrimp, depending on who wins the game. Here are your rooting interests this year:

Tennessee beat Northwestern, 45-6, in the Outback Bowl, which aligns pretty well with football history. Tennessee is historically a good program, while the Wildcats have one of the worst programs ever. Northwestern does have one of the best academic programs in the country.

Too bad the Outback Bowl wasn’t played in a classroom, says Tennessee defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie.

For the first time since 1996, No. 23 Tennessee has a postseason winning streak. The Volunteers won their second straight bowl game by dispatching No. 13 Northwestern 45-6 on New Year’s Day.

For Tennessee and head coach Butch Jones, Friday’s win could signal a return to the glory days of the past. Since winning the 1998 national championship, the Volunteers had gone just 3-7 in bowl games before hiring Jones. The third-year coach is now undefeated in postseason play since taking over in Knoxville.

Joshua Dobbs may not have the sure hands of a wide receiver, but he’s got the balance of a ballerina.

Dobbs and his No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers faced third-and-2 from No. 13 Northwestern’s 18-yard line when the UT quarterback dropped the snap from the shotgun formation. Then, he calmly picked the ball up, doubled back to the 27, blew past a defensive end who took a bad angle of pursuit, and tiptoed his way into the end zone.

Tennessee faced fourth-and-10 when it lined up for a 51-yard field goal attempt. What followed was a fake so ineffective that the Vols’ holder-turned-quarterback had no choice but to throw the ball away.

The Volunteers split from their field goal formation early, but the Wildcats didn’t panic or call timeout after the shift. Instead, they allowed holder Patrick Ashford -- a high school quarterback with one career passing attempt at Tennessee -- to face their team’s pressure and try to beat the defense downfield. Ashford was forced to his right, found zero open receivers and tossed the ball to the sideline even though the Vols were facing a turnover on downs.

Whoever painted the end zones at the Outback Bowl should’ve thought it through a bit more:

The end zone ends at that first white line. Then there’s another patch of paint which is the same color as the end zone paint behind it, and another white line the same color as the end zone boundary. To players running quickly and quarterbacks throwing from far away, it might be tough to determine which line is the real one and which one is the pretty design that’s there for no reason.

In the first 12 minutes of Outback Bowl play, No. 23 Tennessee racked up more personal foul penalties (three) than first downs (zero). A trio of late hits cost the Volunteers a makeable field goal attempt and then pushed No. 13 Northwestern into field goal range one drive later. Neither team converted, leaving the game locked at 0-0 early in the game.

The first hit came one play after a Malik Foreman interception set the Volunteers up at the Northwestern 22-yard line. It pushed Tennessee back to an eventual 49-yard field goal attempt that bounced off the right upright and wasted a prime scoring opportunity.

1. Per reports, Jon Gruden has turned down the idea of being Tennessee’s head coach at least three times.

2. He has some ties to UT. His wife’s a former cheerleader, he was a grad assistant there almost 30 years ago and every time the Vols need a new coach, rumors rise up of him buying huge tracts of land all throughout Appalachia.

Forget the “go into a shell in the second quarter” play-calling. Forget Florida’s desperate fourth-down touchdown. Forget the blown leads and the repeated symptoms that held Tennessee back. Focus on this:

Comfortable wins against decent teams, combined with tight losses to good teams, is a sign of a pretty good team. A perusal of UT’s latest depth chart, with 12 freshman and sophomores and only five seniors among 22 starters, shows this team should expect to improve.

This year’s Outback Bowl is a battle between two teams that look to be on the rise, and could carry a lot of momentum into next season with a win.

After two straight 5-7 seasons, Northwestern turned things around this year, going 10-2, with its only losses to Michigan and Iowa. The Wildcats finished the regular season ranked 13th in the country, thanks to impressive wins against Stanford (10-2), at Wisconsin (9-3), at Duke (7-5) and against Penn State (7-5). The NU offense has really struggled at times this season behind freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson, but running back Justin Jackson has proven to be a bright spot. The defense has been the story of the season. Led by third team All-American Anthony Walker, the defense finished fourth nationally in the S&P+ ratings.

Mayors and governors betting on college sports are nothing new, but the mayors of Evanston and Knoxville are taking this to the next level by betting on this year’s Northwestern-Tennessee Outback Bowl with whiskey.

On the surface, this is a massive mismatch. Perhaps Tennessee’s most defining trait is its whiskey distilling and consumption. Whiskey has been distilled in the state for centuries, and Jack Daniel’s, the most famous whiskey in the world, is from Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Tennessee coach Butch Jones has received a raise from the school, following an 8-4 season. The $500,000 annual raise bumps Jones’ salary to $4.1 million per year, plus bonuses.

Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart released the following statement:

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