TAMPA, Fla. – If he didn’t already, Tennessee left tackle Kyler Kerbyson now knows never to doubt Jalen Hurd.
A tiny little hamstring pull wasn’t going to keep the big running back from helping the Volunteers finish their 2015 season with an impressive win.
Hurd played through some pain and ran for 130 yards and a touchdown to propel Tennessee to a 45-6 rout of Northwestern in Friday’s Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
“I battled a little hamstring pull at the beginning of the week, but I did treatment all week,” Hurd said after accepting the game’s MVP trophy. “I put in my mind that I was going to play either way. That’s what I did tonight.
“There was nothing really,” he added, “that was going to stop me from playing.”
Hurd finished his second season at Tennessee with the ninth 100-yard game of his career.
If he duplicates the six 100-yard games he had this season as a junior, he’ll tie Travis Henry for the most in a career by a Tennessee player. Hurd is 892 yards away from Henry’s program rushing record.
As for Friday, quarterback Josh Dobbs never had any doubts No. 1 would be playing.
“I knew he was going to play,” he said. “Obviously if it was a bad injury, it might be something worse and he might not play. Once I heard what the injury was, I knew that Jalen Hurd was going to be on the field on Friday.”
So what would keep Hurd off the field?
“If he couldn’t walk, that would keep him off the field,” Dobbs said. “He was going to be out there. Especially it being the last game and wanting to finish out the season strong, he was definitely going to be out there.”
Kerbyson had his doubts.
Hurd pulled up during a run in practice earlier in the week – head coach Butch Jones was either coy or unsure if it happened Monday or Tuesday – and felt a tweak in his hamstring.
After he underwent “round-the-clock” treament, as Jones put it, the Vols felt confident by Thursday he could give it a go.
Even in warmups, Hurd was stretching his leg and communicating with head athletic trainer Jason McVeigh, whom Jones called the game’s true MVP.
“I didn’t see it happen, and someone told me after practice,” Kerbyson said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.
“I really didn’t (think he would play). I was very surprised that he came back. It just shows how hard he works as an individual. That kind of game to have after you tweak a hamstring is incredible.”
Hurd was at his best at the end of Tennessee’s marathon drive in the third quarter, a 14-play march that took nearly six minutes off the clock.
He had runs of 6, 4 and 6 yards into the red zone, took one play to catch his breath, and two carries later picked up a first down on fourth-and-1 inside Northwestern’s 10-yard line.
Two plays later, he was in the end zone for his 12th rushing touchdown of the season.
“Summer workouts is probably the hardest conditioning we have,” Hurd said. “Anybody coming there, I don’t care who you are, you’re going to be hurting in the summer workouts. I was thinking of that, thinking how hard we worked over this time and just trying to push through.”
Hurd got stronger as the game wore on, throwing 6-foot-1, 240-pound defensive lineman Xavier Washington to the ground with a stiff arm on one play in the fourth quarter and breaking free from the pile for a 24-yard run on the next.
“I’m a very blessed individual,” Hurd said, “and when I get awards like this and time to get up in (front of) cameras like this, I’m just very honored.”
Kerbyson admitted he’s sad he won’t block for Hurd any longer.
“I think I am,” the fifth-year senior deadpanned. “It’s definitely going to be hard to see a little smaller running back if I ever go again. I probably got a little spoiled with a 6-foot-4, 240-(pound) guy.”
He won’t ever doubt him again, either.