Tennessee football: Vols top 10 greatest games in 2010s decade

3. Oct. 10, 2015

No. 19 Georgia Bulldogs at Tennessee Volunteers

Now this seemed to be the game at the time that turned Tennessee football around as a program under Butch Jones, or at least signified their arrival. After a top 25 start and high expectations, the Vols were 2-3 because they blew a 17-point lead, a 13-point fourth quarter lead and a 14-point lead to the Oklahoma Sooners, Florida Gators and Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Florida loss hurt the worst, and with the Georgia Bulldogs heading into town, this team appeared to be in trouble. It even looked worse after kickoff, as the Dawgs recovered a fumble on the goal line and ran it the other way and also returned a punt for a touchdown en route to a 24-3 lead in the first half.

UT was in trouble. But their defining moment would come. Late in the first half, they finally came alive. Joshua Dobbs converted two fourth downs in desperation, and the second one was to Josh Smith for a touchdown. Following that, Georgia fumbled on the kickoff. So UT got the ball back and scored another touchdown.

All of a sudden, they were only down 24-17 at halftime. In the second half, they scored two more touchdowns to go up 31-24. Georgia tied it at 31, but the Vols then scored again and held on for the 38-31 win.

It was one of those five-touchdown games from Dobbs, who had 312 passing yards and 118 rushing yards in the game. He outdid his performance at the South Carolina Gamecocks from the previous year.

This game got UT to 3-3. They lost only 19-14 on the road to the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide but then won out to finish 9-4 and in the top 25. Georgia was the turning point game of that season, and in the middle of the decade, it appeared to be the turning point game for the program under Jones until it all fell apart.