KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee wrapped up an 8-4 regular season with a 25-point thrashing of cross-state rival Vanderbilt on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
After the 53-28 victory, the Volunteers will wait for their bowl game assignment.
First, here's a look back at the key plays, players and numbers from Tennessee's fifth straight win.
Butch Jones gestures that he wants to speak with the referee. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.SATURDAY'S STAR
Take your pick. Quarterback Josh Dobbs totaled 233 yards of offense and three touchdowns. Von Pearson caught a pair of touchdown passes. Jalen Hurd ran for 120 yards, Alvin Kamara added 99 and Dobbs chipped in 93 (and wasn't sacked), so the offensive line deserves plenty of credit. Tennessee's defense and special teams chipped in nine points and Aaron Medley hit three field goals.
SATURDAY'S STAT
Cameron Sutton's 85-yard punt return touchdown in the second quarter was Tennessee's sixth special teams touchdown of the season, which set a program record. Sutton's 123 punt-return yards gave him the single-season program record (467), previously held by Bobby Majors (457 in 1969). Sutton is the fifth Vol and first since Terry Fair in 1996 to return two punts for touchdowns in a single season.
TURNING POINT
Two key plays allowed Tennessee to build its lead after Vanderbilt stayed within a possession deep into the first half. Leading 20-14, Sutton broke free for his punt return touchdown to make it 27-14. Then, with the Commodores on the doorstep of cutting into the lead in the final minute of the half, safety Todd Kelly Jr. made a diving interception. The Vols were rarely threatened again.
HIGHLIGHT PLAY
Tennessee's Alvin Kamara (6) hurdles two Vanderbilt defenders after a pass reception. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.Listed at 5-foot-10, Alvin Kamara is not the biggest of running backs, but that didn't stop him from trying to jump over Vanderbilt defenders at full speed on a couple of runs along the sideline on Saturday. He nearly stuck the landing on his first-quarter hurdle and took a pretty hard shot while airborne in the third quarter. Kamara had a big game on Saturday, turning 18 touches into 151 yards.
WHAT IT MEANS
Tennessee will head into its bowl game on its first five-game winning streak since 2007. The Vols also finished with a winning SEC record for the first time since 2007, and the eight wins - which included two against nine-win teams - are Tennessee's most since that season. Tennessee will wonder what could have been, but the Vols made tangible progress in Butch Jones's third season.
BY THE NUMBERS
Tennessee's Jalen Hurd (1) breaks into the open for a big gain in the 3rd quarter. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.2,682: The Vols ran for 331 yards against the nation's No. 24 rushing defense to push their season total to 2,682. That's Tennessee's highest single-season rushing total since 1994 (2,788). The Vols ran for 2,650 yards during their 1998 national championship run. Tennessee finishes the regular season with a 223.5-yard average and eight games of 200-plus rushing yards.
201-15: Tennessee blew open a two-score game with a dominating third quarter. The Vols outscored the Commodores 16-0 and outgained the visitors 201-15. Tennessee ran 26 plays to Vanderbilt's nine and held the ball for more than 10 minutes. In doing so, the Vols stretched their 13-point halftime lead to 29 points and put the game away.
123-52: After taking a 17-7 lead into the second quarter on Saturday, Tennessee finished the regular season outscoring opponents 123-52 in the first quarters of games this season. The Vols scored six opening-drive touchdowns, averaged 139.7 yards of offense and allowed an average of 66.9 yards on defense in 12 first quarters this season. The Vols have been fast starters all season.
Tennessee's Micah Abernathy (3) pulls Vanderbilt's Ralph Webb (7) down while Darrin Kirland Jr. (34) moves in to finish the play. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.10.4: Vanderbilt entered Saturday's game 120th nationally in total offense (318.8 ypg) and yards per play (4.38), but the Commodores averaged 10.4 yards on 14 snaps in the first quarter against Tennessee. After finishing the first half with 276 yards, Vanderbilt had just 135 yards, most of them in garbage time, and averaged 4.26 yards per play in the second half as Tennessee's defense settled in and took over.
100,584: An announced attendance of 98,327 on Saturday meant Tennessee recorded a season attendance average of 100,584. It's the highest average attendance for a season and first of more than 100,000 since 2008 (101,448). There were two sellouts this season (Oklahoma and Georgia), and Saturday's game was just the second with an attendance under 101,000.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.