TAMPA—Joshua Dobbs threw for 166 yards and ran for two touchdowns Friday, helping Tennessee cap its best season in eight years with a 45-6 rout of No. 12 Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.Dobbs scored on runs 14 and 18 yards, while Jalen Hurd ran for 130 yards and one TD for the Volunteers (9-4), who finished with at least nine wins for the first time since 2007.NU (10-3) sputtered offensively and was unable to keep up with the stronger, faster Vols defensively in falling short on a bid to finish with a school-record 11 victories.Dobbs completed 14 of 25 passes. The dual-threat quarterback ran 12 times for 48 yards, including a highlight-reel burst around right end in which he dove for his second TD after picking up a bobbled snap and tight-roping his way up the sideline to make it 31-6 early in the fourth quarter.The victory gives Butch Jones 17 wins in the last two seasons, finishing each year with a bowl win against a Big Ten foe. Preseason talk of the Vols being an SEC East dark horse was quieted by a few missteps early in the year, but the end result of a 9-win season, an improvement of last season with much of the same young talent taking a step forward, is something any Tennessee fan should be excited about when looking ahead to 2016. Northwestern’s offense had one great drive in the first half. Clayton Thorson was executing well and after a Justin Jackson touchdown, the Wildcats had a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive that pulled Northwestern within one score of Tennessee before halftime. Unfortunately, that one drive was the highlight of the day for Northwestern’s offense. Meanwhile, Josh Dobbs and Jalen Hurd used the extra touches — aided by Northwestern’s offensive struggles — to find some success in the third quarter for Tennessee. The Wildcats met the same fate as many of Tennessee’s opponents this season, unable to stop the bleeding once these incredibly talented skill players get rolling. It did take a while for Tennessee’s offense to get rolling, but the hard running of sophomore running back Jalen Hurd was the key once it did. Hurd finished the game with 130 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He also became the first Tennessee player to run for at least 100 yards in two bowl games.