KNOXVILLE – Some early turbulence turned into a smooth landing for Tennessee in its regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon.
The Volunteers were in a one-score game with Vanderbilt deep into the first half at Neyland Stadium, but another big special teams play and some key plays on defense turned the contest into a route.
Tennessee will head into a bowl game on its first five-game winning streak since 2007 after running away from Vanderbilt in the second half of a 53-28 win.
After jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, Tennessee (8-4, 5-3 SEC) was on its heel defensively as Vanderbilt’s offense, one of the worst in the SEC, gashed the Vols for nearly 300 yards in the first half.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs gave the Vols a 17-7 lead with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Von Pearson and a 6-yard scoring run, but Kyle Shurmur’s touchdown pass to Trent Sherfield on the second play of the second quarter made it 17-14.