2016 Outback Bowl

2016 Outback Bowl
Northwestern Wildcats Tennessee Volunteers (10–2) (8–4) Big Ten SEC 6 45 Head coach:  Pat Fitzgerald Head coach:  Butch Jones AP Coaches CFP 12 12 13 AP Coaches CFP RV RV 23
1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 6 0 0 6 Tennessee 7 10 7 21 45
Date	January 1, 2016
Season	2015
Stadium	Raymond James Stadium
Location	Tampa, Florida
MVP	Jalen Hurd
Favorite	Tennessee by 8[1]
Referee	Gary Patterson (ACC)[2]
Attendance	53,202[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2/Sports USA
Announcers	Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore, & Quint Kessenich (ESPN2) Mike Morgan, Doug Plank, & Rich Herrera (Sports USA)

The 2016 Outback Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on January 1, 2016, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. It was the 30th edition of the Outback Bowl (previously called the Hall of Fame Bowl), featuring the #13 Northwestern Wildcats from the Big Ten and the #23 Tennessee Volunteers from the SEC.^[3] It was one of the 2015-16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season, with kickoff at noon EST on ESPN2. It was sponsored by the Outback Steakhouse restaurant franchise.

Teams

Northwestern

Northwestern, ranked #13 in the nation, finished the regular season with a 10–2 record, losing two consecutive games mid-season to ranked teams, Michigan and Iowa. The Wildcats finished second in the Big Ten's western division behind Iowa. Northwestern is led by quarterback Clayton Thorson, with support from runningback Justin Jackson. Pat Fitzgerald is in his tenth year as Northwestern's head coach.^[4]

Tennessee

After starting the season ranked as high as #23 in the country, Tennessee went 3–4, losing two of three close games to higher-ranked teams, before winning their last five games of the season. The Volunteers won against then-ranked #19 Georgia and lost only one game in the remainder of the SEC schedule. Tennessee is led by quarterback Joshua Dobbs, with support from running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, as well as Evan Berry and Cameron Sutton on special teams. The Volunteers are coached by Butch Jones in his third year.^[5]

Series history

In their only series game, the 1997 Florida Citrus Bowl, Tennessee won 48–28.^[6]

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NU UT 1 0:14 7 75 2:45 UT Joshua Dobbs 14-yard touchdown run, Aaron Medley kick good 0 7 2 10:47 11 46 3:25 UT 35-yard field goal by Aaron Medley 0 10 2 5:40 12 75 5:07 NU Justin Jackson 5-yard touchdown run, Jack Mitchell kick no good 6 10 2 2:18 9 75 3:22 UT Alvin Kamara 11-yard touchdown run, Aaron Medley kick good 6 17 3 4:40 14 67 5:47 UT Jalen Hurd 3-yard touchdown run, Aaron Medley kick good 6 24 4 11:42 9 80 3:36 UT Joshua Dobbs 18-yard touchdown run, Aaron Medley kick good 6 31 4 4:24 7 32 3:38 UT John Kelly 1-yard touchdown run, Aaron Medley kick good 6 38 4 0:08 – – – UT Interception returned 100 yards for touchdown by Evan Berry, Aaron Medley kick good 6 45 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 45

Source: ^[2]

Statistics

Statistics[2]	NU	UT
First downs	18	24
Plays–yards	70–261	84–420
Rushes–yards	37–132	53–226
Passing yards	129	194
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	14–33–4	16–30–0
Time of possession	25:51	34:09

References

1. Odds, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2015
2. "2016 Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Tennessee Stats". Stat Broadcast. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
3. Stites, Adam (December 6, 2015). "2015 Outback Bowl, Tennessee vs. Northwestern: Date, time, location and more". SB Nation. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
4. "Wildcats headed to 2016 Outback Bowl". nusports.com. Evanston, Illinois: CBS Interactive. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
5. "Vols headed to Outback Bowl". utsports.com. Knoxville, Tennessee: CBS Interactive. December 6, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
6. "1997 Florida Citrus Bowl". utsports.com. Orlando, Florida: CBS Interactive. January 1, 1997. Retrieved December 7, 2015.

External links

Official website