Photos by ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs stretches the ball past the pylon for a touchdown against Northwestern safety Traveon Henry during the second half of the Outback Bowl on Friday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. Tennessee won 45-6.

By Mike Strange of the Knoxville News Sentinel

TAMPA, Fla. — There is a protocol for the postmortem of a bowl game. The victor goes last.

"Sorry we didn't give you a better game,'' Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said Friday in the bowels of Raymond James Stadium. Then he was gone.

Only after Fitzgerald left the podium did the Outback Bowl trophy arrive. And only then did Tennessee coach Butch Jones arrive.

Jones earned rights to the last word via Tennessee's 45-6 thrashing of No. 12 Northwestern before a sun-baked, orange-tinted crowd of 53,202.

From a game that was once 10-6 deep into the second quarter, the Vols scored the final 35 points, dominating the Wildcats of the Big Ten just as they dominated Big Ten opponent Iowa last year in Jacksonville.

"I knew last night,'' Jones said of his team. "They had that look in their eyes.''

With little glitz but a lot of grit, Tennessee pounded Northwestern into submission. The Vols finished Jones' third season at 9-4 and poised for a big 2016 campaign.

The Wildcats go home 10-3, denied the first 11-win season in school history.

"This is one game at the end of a spectacular season,'' said Fitzgerald. "You flush it and move on.''

For Tennessee, it was more a case of one spectacular game at the end of a good season.

Tennessee got two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Joshua Dobbs and one each from tailbacks Jalen Hurd, Alvin Kamara and John Kelly.

Evan Berry punctuated the rout with a 100-yard interception return.

There was nothing cheap about Tennessee's first four touchdowns. The drives covered 75, 75, 67 and 80 yards.

"We knew it was a line of scrimmage game,'' said Jones.

The Wildcats' high-water mark was Justin Jackson's 5-yard TD run in the second quarter to cut Tennessee's lead to 10-6. The extra-point attempt was off target and kicker Jack Mitchell never got to redeem himself.

Dobbs was 14 of 26 passing for 166 yards. He also rushed 12 times for 48 yards.

Hurd carried 24 times for 130 yards, becoming the first Tennessee back to surpass 100 rushing yards in two bowl games. His reward was the game MVP trophy.

Hurd gave no indication he tweaked a hamstring muscle early in the week but was, Jones said, a game-time decision.

"Jalen sacrificed,'' Jones said. "He stayed in that training room and worked and worked and worked.''

All told, the Vols rushed for 226 yards and had 420 in total offense.

The Tennessee defense held Northwestern to 261 yards, recorded four interceptions and four sacks.

With a 17-6 halftime lead, the Vols put the hammer down in the third quarter with a 14-play, 67-yard drive that included seven Hurd runs.

With a 24-6 lead, Tennessee was on its way.

"I don't think anything changed,'' said offensive tackle Kyler Kerbyson. "It was just the progression of the game and us figuring out what plays worked.''

Even busted plays worked. In the fourth quarter, Dobbs dropped a snap, retreated, scooped up the ball and scored on an 18-yard improvised run to make it 31-6.

The third interception, by Emmanuel Moseley on a pass from Northwestern backup Zack Oliver, set up a 32-yard scoring drive with Quinten Dormady at quarterback. Kelly got the touchdown on a 1-yard run to make it 38-6.

Earlier, Malik Foreman and Brian Randolph picked off Northwestern freshman Colton Thorson.

Both teams missed early field-goal tries. Then Tennessee went on the march. Dobbs capped the 75-yard drive with a 14-yard keeper.

Aaron Medley made it 10-0 with a 35-yard field goal, after which the Wildcats drove for their only score.

The Vols mounted an impressive answer, getting Kamara's 11-yard TD run to go up 17-6 at the half.

The third quarter was a lot of Hurd, including a 3-yard touchdown to make it 24-6.

The 21-point fourth quarter ended on Berry's length-of-the-field tour with eight seconds to play.

Jones, ever on point, mentioned "Team 120" picks up where the Outback Bowl left off.

"I'm really happy about the direction this place is going,'' said senior Kerbyson. "In my eyes I don't see 'em losing in 2016.

"We're already one-and-oh.''

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