NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The 2016 regular season ended Saturday night with Tennessee's defense getting torched again. This time the Vols' offense couldn't score enough to make up for it.
Vanderbilt's 45-34 upset win spoiled the potential for Tennessee's first Sugar Bowl trip since the 1990 season.
Three months ago the Vols had SEC championship hopes and dreams. Now they have an 8-4 record to digest, same as last year. The Vols finished the SEC race 4-4 and await a bowl destination _ but it for sure won't be the Sugar Bowl.
Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5 SEC) has beaten Tennessee three of the past five seasons. That hadn't happened since the 1920s before UT hired Robert Neyland.
Tennessee's defense had been riddled by Kentucky and Missouri the previous two weeks, but most of the damage came on the ground.
The Commodores turned to the air and Kyle Shurmur found plenty of targets, good for 416 passing yards.
The Vols led 31-24 at the half and added an Aaron Medley field goal to lead 34-24. But Tennessee's offense went quiet and Vandy ripped off 21 unanswered points to the surprise of bipartisan crowd of 38,108.
Darrius Sims scored a 3-yard touchdown after the 'Dores had recovered a Joshua Dobbs fumble at midfield to start the fourth quarter. Vandy had its first lead of the game, 38-34, with 12:15 to play.
After Medley missed a 37-yard field goal try, Vandy punched back with a 28-yard touchdown run by Ralph Webb for a 45-34 lead with 4:07 left.
It was the most points scored by Vanderbilt in an SEC game since 1971.
Dobbs was 31-of-34 passing for 340 yards. He rushed for 53 yards for a total offense of 393. He's the fourth Tennessee quarterback ever with to surpass 3,000 yards of total offense in a season.
Alvin Kamara scored three touchdowns.
A wild first half ended 31-24, Tennessee. The final snap was Derek Barnett's 32nd career sack, which tied Reggie White's UT school record.
It was about the only success either team had in pass defense during the first 30 minutes.
Vandy's Shurmur aired it out for 289 yards, including TD passes of 18 yards to Bailey McElwain and 20 to Sam Dobbs.
Tennessee's Dobbs was 17-of-18 for 206 yards and touchdowns of 21 yards to Kamara and 27 to Josh Malone.
Kamara also scored on runs of 14 and 1 yards.
Webb's 9-yard touchdown tied the game 21-21. On his next carry he broke the Vanderbilt career rushing record that belonged to Zac Stacy since 2012.
