Tennessee has no problem with Iowa in TaxSlayer Bowl
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jacksonville, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Joshua Dobbs accounted for 205 yards and the Tennessee Volunteers cruised past the Iowa Hawkeyes, 45-28, in the TaxSlayer Bowl on Friday.
Dobbs threw for 129 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while rushing for 76 yards with two scores for the Vols (7-6), who won four of their last five to end the season.
Jalen Hurd had a strong performance with 122 yards on the ground and added two touchdowns in the win.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"First of all, exceptionally proud of everyone in our football organization and our football family. That starts with our players," Vols coach Butch Jones said.
Jordan Canzeri paced the Hawkeyes (7-6) with 120 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Mark Weisman had two rushing touchdowns.
Iowa used a pair of quarterbacks in C.J. Beathard and Jake Rudock throughout the day. Beathard finished with 145 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception to go along with 82 rushing yards. Rudock threw for 32 yards and rushed for 22 in the loss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Start by congratulating Tennessee. They played an excellent football game. They were ready right from the start," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said.
The first quarter belonged to the Volunteers. They made stops and scored often.
Iowa was forced to punt after reaching midfield on its opening drive. Tennessee used a heavy dose of the ground game, running seven of the nine plays with Hurd accounting for 42 yards on four carries. He capped the 80-yard march with a 3-yard touchdown to give the Vols a 7-0 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tennessee was tested on the Hawkeyes' next possession, but Weisman was stuffed on 4th-and-1 from the Vols 33. Hurd took advantage five plays into the series, barreling up the middle, bouncing off multiple tackles and into the end zone.
Following another Iowa punt, Marlin Lane took a backward pass out of the back field from Dobbs, then completed a 49-yard pass to an open Vic Wharton and extend the margin to 21-0 with 1:31 remaining in the first.
Tennessee continued to pour it on in the second. Dobbs rolled out and weaved his way into the end zone for an 8-yard score as the lead stretched to 28-0.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Coming into the season, our goal was obviously to make it a bowl game, and when we got there to win it, as we did today," Dobbs said.
The Hawkeyes finally got on the board with a drive that covered 71 yards over 4:30. Weisman capped it with a 3-yard TD run.
Dobbs, who went 11-of-12 passing for 81 yards over first two quarters, concluded his team's dominant half with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Von Pearson on nice back-shoulder fade at the pylon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hurd, meanwhile, rushed for 97 yards in the first half, while Iowa's team gained 68 rushing yards by the break.
Dobbs kept up his remarkable day with an 11-yard scoring run that pushed the lead to 35 with 7:46 left in the third.
He threw an interception following a Beathard fumble, but Beathard was then picked off by LaDarrell McNeil inside the Tennessee 10.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Weisman plunged into the end zone from a yard out early in the fourth. Aaron Medley booted a 28-yard field goal at the other end for a 45-14 lead with 8:31 on the clock.
The Hawkeyes closed the scoring with a touchdown passes from Beathard to Ray Hamilton and Matt VandeBerg late in the fourth.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tennessee now leads the all-time series 2-1 ... Iowa dropped five of its last seven after a 5-1 start ... The Vols had a 461-421 edge in total yards ... The Hawkeyes went 3-for-11 on third down ... Pearson finished with a game-high 75 yards in the win.