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Tennessee football: Vols 10 greatest comeback wins in school history

By Caleb Calhoun

Aaron Hayden #24, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 9 November 1991 at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images)
Aaron Hayden #24, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 9 November 1991 at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

4. Nov. 1, 2014

Tennessee Volunteers at South Carolina Gamecocks

Final score: Tennessee Vols win 45-42 (OT)

Before Tennessee football fully turned around for a brief period under Butch Jones by coming back to beat the Georgia Bulldogs, Joshua Dobbs needed a game to prove he was the future for the Vols. He was horrible in four starts his freshman year, going 1-3 after Justin Worley suffered a season-ending injury.

But the week before this game, he was inserted back into the starting lineup after Worley suffered another season-ending injury and Nathan Peterman proved ineffective. Dobbs and turned a 27-0 deficit to the Alabama Crimson Tide into a 34-20 loss. So there were signs of encouragement.

This would be the game those signs turned into proof. There was no three-score comeback here. But the timing of a two-score comeback is what puts it so high on the list. The Vols were down 42-28 with less than five minutes to go. Dobbs got the ball on UT’s own 25-yard-line.

In just a little over three minutes, Dobbs was able to run 10 plays and direct the Vols down the field for a touchdown. The defense then got its necessary stop. After getting the ball back needing 85 yards to tie in 75 seconds, Dobbs went to work. He was able to run nine plays in the tempo-based offense in that time en route to tying it up.

The momentum swing was insane. In his first five total touchdowns and 400 total yards performance, Dobbs engineered a 14-point comeback with two drives averaging out to be 80 yards each in less than five minutes. He got the Vols to overtime, and the defense did the rest, scoring a 45-42 win. It was the coming out party for Dobbs and Butch Jones at the time.

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