Tennessee Football: Ranking the Top 5 Plays of the Volunteers' Regular Season

There were heartaches and heroics, dominance and desolation, but when the end of Tennessee's football season delivered an 8-4 record and an Outback Bowl berth, it's clear that 2015 was a success for the Volunteers…even if the early-season near-misses remain wince-worthy.

And while a season-long body of work helped UT take another step forward in the advancement of third-year coach Butch Jones' program, plenty of plays stood out.

From one of the best individual, all-around performances by a quarterback in college football all season to a pair of defensive last-gasp efforts to a stunning conversion in what appeared to be a throwaway moment of a blowout game, it was a memorable year for important plays.

Though the Vols receivers and defensive backs didn't have their best seasons overall, they made key plays in key moments. While quarterback Joshua Dobbs had lapses where he struggled throwing the ball, he also delivered some darts and won with wheels, too.

While this year may not go down as one of the best in program history, it may wind up being one that is deemed vital in a return to the national picture. In losing some heartbreakers, the Vols banded together and learned how to win.

It's how they take that and spin it forward that will determine the long-term impact of the 2015 season.

Regardless, a handful of plays will stand out as highlights. Taking into consideration the effect on the particular game, turning points in the season and importance of the moment, let's take a look at Tennessee's top plays of 2015.

5. Joshua Dobbs' 75-Yard Dart to Josh Malone vs. Kentucky

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It may not have been the biggest play of the season, but there's no denying the importance of Joshua Dobbs' best pass of the 2015 season.

The Vols trailed 14-10 late in the second quarter and were really just kind of plodding along against Kentucky on the road in what looked like it may wind up being a big orange scare on Halloween. After all, UT had just lost a tough one to rival Alabama on the road the week before and stood at 3-4 on the season.

Needing a spark to flip things in their favor, Dobbs dropped back and ran play-action. Under duress from Wildcats defenders, the junior signal-caller did something he hadn't much throughout the year: He stepped up in the pocket.

In doing so, Dobbs stepped into the throw, flashing his arm strength and throwing the ball in a perfect basket to sophomore receiver Josh Malone 55 yards downfield. Malone had a step on UK senior defender Cody Quinn, whom he shed of a tackle.

Once he stopped, Malone had a 75-yard touchdown, Tennessee had a lead and the Vols were well on their way to a blowout. That was the beginning of a 42-7 demoralization of the Wildcats, who never really recovered.

"We were just controlling the things that we can control," Dobbs told the Associated Press' Steve Megargee. "We can't really control the bus ride, where we stay, all that stuff. But we can control how we come out and play football, and we did that well tonight."

Dobbs accounted for 284 total yards and four touchdowns as the Vols never trailed again, winning 52-21 and setting the tone for the remainder of the season.

4. 58-Yard Trick-Play Touchdown to Joshua Dobbs vs. Florida

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The only play on the list that came in a losing effort serves as more as a what-might've-been moment and the memory of Tennessee playing to beat Florida rather than the timid, fourth-quarter Vols that wound up blowing a 13-point lead.

Mostly, it's just an opportunity to relive a dramatic individual effort from quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who did everything he could to propel Tennessee to a win that simply should have happened.

The junior quarterback from Alpharetta, Georgia, who was such an integral part of UT's offense this year, became the first college football player since 2003 to lead his team in passing, rushing and receiving (276 total yards) in an eventual 28-27 loss to the Gators.

He ran the ball with reckless abandon and sprinkled in some passing yards to keep Florida's stingy secondary honest. But the most memorable play came on Tennessee's first score of the game.

Trailing 7-0, offensive coordinator Mike DeBord looked early on like he was going to pull out all the stops to win. Dobbs took a snap and immediately lateraled the ball to freshman receiver Jauan Jennings (a high school quarterback who began his UT career as one).

As the UF defense slid to Jennings' side, Dobbs slipped out, and Jennings threw a perfect strike back across the field to his quarterback. With blockers ahead, he raced 58 yards to a touchdown.

It was an impressive start to UT's scoring.

Unfortunately for the Vols, when they got ahead 27-14 (Oh, that eschewed two-point conversion in lieu of an extra point still haunts, doesn't it?), jugular plays like that seemed far in the distance. Instead, the Vols got too conservative, Florida became the aggressor and the Gators beat the Vols yet again.

Still, it takes little away from that great play or from Dobbs' brilliant performance.

3. Brian Randolph's Game-Winning Pass Deflection Against Georgia

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There was arguably another play a little bit more important in this game, but only because it seemed to be the moment that the entire season tilted in Tennessee's favor.

But nobody would be talking about that one if senior safety Brian Randolph hadn't made a game-saving deflection as time expired.

After UT fought all the way back from 21 points down to take a dramatic lead against the Georgia Bulldogs and the teams were trading punches at game's end, UGA quarterback Greyson Lambert had his team down deep and throwing the ball 27 yards away into the end zone for a tie and overtime.

Malcolm Mitchell appeared to be matched up one-on-one with UT star cornerback Cameron Sutton, who got tangled up and fell down at the goal line. No matter. Randolph was shaded in that direction, sprinted over to help and wound up swatting the ball away.

Watch video of the play here, around the 2:30 mark.

"It could have been a totally different story here," Randolph told the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Patrick Brown. "I also thought how they probably would have went for two after that (touchdown), so it would have been crunch time. I was blessed, and I thank God I was able to make that play."

The celebration started soon after, but that play was extra sweet for Randolph. 

Though he had an early offer from the Bulldogs in the recruiting process, there wasn't one that was committable by the time the Marietta product was ready to make his college decision. He chose the Vols, where he has started all four seasons in Knoxville that he's been healthy.

For the first time in his career, the Vols were able to finish the Dawgs, and Randolph was able to make a crucial play and celebrate in Neyland Stadium.

"Ain't no shame," Randolph told Brown, "in going home and being proud of who you play for."

After that play, he can hold his head high.

2. Malik Foreman's Last-Minute Strip of South Carolina Tight End Jerell Adams

Wade Payne/Associated Press

Very rarely do college football seasons go by without a little bit of luck.

Tennessee had plenty of the bad variety in large doses during the early season, when close losses and bad decisions haunted the Vols in the season's first few games.

They got a little bit of it back in a scary second half against hapless South Carolina.

Despite building a 17-3 halftime lead, UT's defense essentially forgot to come out of the halftime locker room, getting torched to the tune of 21 third-quarter points to let the Gamecocks back in the game.

Then, leading 27-24 late in the fourth quarter, Tennessee's defense again began to wilt in the face of former walk-on quarterback Perry Orth's heroics. He calmly marched South Carolina downfield for what would have assuredly been at least a chance to tie the game.

Orth hit a big pass to big tight end Jerell Adams inside the Tennessee 20-yard line, but as he was spinning away from defenders, UT junior nickelback Malik Foreman ripped the football away from him, causing a fumble that was recovered by Jalen Reeves-Maybin to preserve the win.

Watch the video of the play here at about the 2:50 mark.

"I'm never going to apologize for winning," UT coach Butch Jones said after the game. "This is a hard-fought game. We're playing a good football team. I give South Carolina all the credit in the world…They're going to have success. We're still building. I'm proud of our players. I'm proud of our program. We need to start being positive around here."

Regardless of what you want to call it, Tennessee was fortunate. Yes, UT made a play, but that one play made up for a horrible half.

None of that matters looking back. A win is a win, and the maligned Foreman got himself a huge memory in a terrific second half of the year that made up for a first half of 2015 worth of struggles.

"We've just got that confidence now," Reeves-Maybin said. "Whoever has to make the play is going to find a way to get it done and not let anybody in the end zone."

1. Josh Smith's 39-Yard Touchdown on 4th-and-8 vs. Georgia

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To appreciate the exact play Tennessee's season turned around, you have to remember how you were feeling at that exact moment before it happened.

Most importantly, you need to remember how you felt afterward.

The Vols were trailing 24-3 at home against Georgia late in the first half. They were 2-3 on the season, and UT was about to get blown off its own field by a team that was hammered by Alabama the week before.

Facing a 4th-and-8 from the Georgia 39-yard line and with what seemed to be very little hope buzzing around Neyland Stadium, Joshua Dobbs dropped back and fired a bullet pass in traffic a little bit behind redshirt sophomore receiver Josh Smith.

Smith leaped and made an adjustment in the air, catching the ball, coming down and sprinting through UGA defenders and into the end zone for the touchdown (0:50 mark of this video) to make it 24-10.

The crazy thing is, Smith said after the game that he called his shot during a Friday night football game in a conversation he had with coach Butch Jones.

“It's funny that right as we're leaving, I shook his hand and said, 'I promise you we're going to get this win,'" Smith said. "And he said, 'I got your back.'"

Even after that score, it was hard to hope. The way the Vols lost all those games early in the season made it tough to believe, especially with them still down 14 points. But Tennessee's players made that play a catalyst.

The coaches did, too. It was the point of the year where it seemed Jones and offensive coordinator Mike DeBord really began to trust their players to make plays with games on the line, and the players proved to them they could respond when they had to.

Moments after Smith's score, Tennessee recovered a fumble on a kickoff return and parlayed it into a touchdown to make it a seven-point game.

All of a sudden, that loser mentality that permeated the entire team, the entire program and spread like a tumor throughout the entire fanbase was nowhere to be found. These Vols believed they could win.

UT scored again right after the break to tie the game, and from there, the Vols made the biggest plays in winning a dramatic game over its SEC East rival.

"It's a big play," Smith said afterward. "We have to come down with the football there. Dobbs does a great job standing in the pocket, just made a great throw and I made the catch."

Added Jones: "That really created some momentum for us."

Not just in that game, either. That positive vibe carried throughout the remainder of the season.

All stats gathered from UTSports.com unless otherwise noted. All quotes and information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. 

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.