Tennessee dominates Hawkeyes in TaxSlayer Bowl

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Iowa football team was blown out of the TaxSlayer Bowl, falling to Tennessee 45-28 on Friday.

The game started ugly for the Hawkeyes, as Tennessee piled up 75 rushing yards on its first drive en route to a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. The Volunteers forced a turnover-on-downs and a three-and-out in between two more sprints down the field for scores, and put Iowa into a 21-0 hole in the first quarter.

True freshman running back Jalen Hurd had 88 rushing yards and two touchdowns in that first quarter. He would finish with 122 yards on the ground.

The Volunteers jumped out to a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter when quarterback Joshua Dobbs broke tackles and scrambled 8 yards for a touchdown, and the game was all but over then.

Iowa finally got on the scoreboard with less than four minutes left in the half, when Mark Weisman scored his first of two touchdowns on a three-yard plunge. But Iowa couldn't finish the half strong, as Dobbs hit Von Pearson three times -- including a 19-yard touchdown -- for a quick touchdown and a 35-7 halftime lead.

Tennessee opened the second-half scoring with another Dobbs touchdown scamper, this time from 11 yards out.

Iowa finally found some life, forcing an interception and three punts to go with three late touchdown drives of its own, but it was too late to make things interesting.

Dobbs gave Iowa fits, completing 16-of-21 throws for 129 yards and a touchdown, and gaining 76 yards on the ground to go with two touchdowns.

Iowa gave both its quarterbacks plenty of snaps, and C.J. Beathard appeared to outplay Jake Rudock. Rudock was just 2-of-8 with 32 yards, while Beathard played most of the second half and finished 13-of-23 for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 82 yards.

Jordan Canzeri showed promise for next season, finally getting healthy and running for 120 yards. Mark Weisman finished his Hawkeye career with two more touchdowns, but gained just 10 yards on 7 carries. Kevonte Martin-Manley became the leading pass-catcher in Iowa history with three catches for 23 yards.

Iowa finished the season 7-6.