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Tennessee football: Ranking every Vols team in 2010s decade

By Caleb Calhoun

ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 1: Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers rides the shoulders of Gavin Bryant #36 after making the game winning catch against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 1: Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers rides the shoulders of Gavin Bryant #36 after making the game winning catch against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images /

4. 2014

7-6 (3-5)

Won Gator Bowl

Four years after 2010, Tennessee football had suffered through what appeared to be its darkest period in the modern era. Enter 2014, and their finally seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel. In his second year, Butch Jones had secured a top five recruiting class and was a quarterback injury and close game away from a bowl in 2013.

So as 2014 rolled around, the Vols got Justin Worley back and had higher expectations. Those expectations were met with a 2-0 start. They were hit with reality when they lost in a blowout to the Oklahoma Sooners, but they rebounded by almost beating the Georgia Bulldogs, this time on the road.

At 2-2, the reeling Florida Gators came to town. Both teams were bad this year, and it was a chance for the Vols to finally end their frustrating losing streak. But that’s when their offensive line issues were exposed. Jones had to replace all five starters on the line from the previous year, and as they developed, they struggled severely.

Combine that with Worley’s lack of mobility, and this team could only muster three field goals against Will Muschamp. They had built a 9-0 lead though. Muschamp then switched from Jeff Driskel to Treon Harris, who led a touchdown drive and then a field goal drive. That was enough, and Florida secured a 10-9 lead.

After another meaningless non-conference win, the hurt from that Florida loss carried over into a 27-3 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. Then Worley suffered another season-ending injury, and Nathan Peterman got the start against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Just like Florida in 2013, Peterman was ineffective in this game, and Alabama took a 27-0 lead.

But then something happened that changed the whole season. Joshua Dobbs, who was ineffective when playing the year before, came in the game. He brought the Vols back, and they only lost 34-20. Sure, they were 3-5, but Dobbs’s improvement was notable. And he got the start the next week against the South Carolina Gamecocks. That’s when the legend of Dobbs was born.

In what appeared to be turning point game for the program, Dobbs got locked in a shootout on the road. But down 42-28 late, he led two touchdown drives in under four minutes to tie it up. Derek Barnett’s legend was born in this game as well with three sacks. He had a key one in overtime that allowed the Vols to win off a field goal, 45-42.

Dobbs had the first of many games in which he would go for over 400 total yards and score five total touchdowns. The next game, he got them to 5-5 with four touchdowns in a 50-0 win over the Kentucky Wildcats. A close loss to the Missouri Tigers, who won the SEC East, dropped them to 5-6. But they reached bowl eligibility with an ugly win over the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Finally, for the first time since 2010, Tennessee football was going bowling. An offensive onslaught led by Dobbs and, yes, Jalen Hurd, resulted in them beating the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28 for their first winning season since 2009 and their first bowl win since 2007. It was a sign of an improving program under Jones.

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