4. 2016 – Joshua Dobbs
9-4 (5-3); W Music City Bowl; No. 22 AP; No. 24 Coaches
On paper, this team underachieved. It was the beginning of the end for head coach Butch Jones. However, Josh Dobbs himself was spectacular. Coming off a 9-4 season and Outback Bowl win, their first season winning more than seven games or finishing in the top 25 since 2007, Tennessee football returned everybody in 2016,
Dobbs was the face of those returners. He started the back end of the 2013 season and was awful. However, he came in again on the back end of the 2014 season and turned a 3-5 team into a 7-6 team. The job was his for the rest of his college career.
As a result, the Vols entered the preseason in the top 10. Expectations were high. However, an ugly overtime victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers dropped them in the polls. UT would then begin a string of ugly wins en route to a red-hot start.
It culminated with a 21-0 comeback to beat the Florida Gators 38-28, ending an 11-game losing streak end the series, and then the Hail Mary to beat the Georgia Bulldogs to get to 5-0. Throught it all, Dobbs was amazing. He had five total touchdowns against Florida.
However, injuries then crept in. Despite a great game by Dobbs, UT lost in overtime at the Texas A&M Aggies. Then they lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Due to a midterm Dobbs had, they then lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks. All of a sudden, 5-0 was 5-3. Jones was unraveling.
UT regrouped to win their next three before losing at the Vanderbilt Commodores, which also wasn’t Dobbs’ fault. They closed things out with a 38-24 Music City Bowl win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers and another 9-4 record.
In the process, Dobbs had the second most productive season for a quarterback in program history, with a total of 3,777 yards and 39 total touchdowns, which tied a school record. With him gone the next year, Jones’ program fell to its worst season in history.