Recap: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

Erik Ainge threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns, leading 16th-ranked Tennessee to a 21-17 victory over No. 18 Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.

Backup quarterback Gerald Jones added a rushing touchdown for the Volunteers (10-4), who bounced back from a loss to LSU in the SEC Championship Game and finished the season with six wins in their last seven games.

Ainge completed 25-of-43 passes and was not intercepted on the way to game MVP honors. Josh Briscoe caught seven passes for 101 yards with a score and Brad Cottam also hauled in a touchdown pass in the victory.

Tennessee, which lost to Penn State in last January's Outback Bowl, notched its ninth double-digit victory season in Phillip Fulmer's 15-year tenure as head coach.

"We've been waiting a couple of years to get one of these," said Fulmer about the school's first bowl win since the 2005 Cotton Bowl.

P.J. Hill ran for 132 yards on just 16 carries for Wisconsin (9-4), while Tyler Donovan battled through numerous hard hits and threw for 155 yards with a touchdown and an interception in defeat.

This was just the second meeting between the two schools. Tennessee also won the first, a 28-21 triumph in the 1981 Garden State Bowl.

Tennessee built a 21-14 lead at the break in this one and Wisconsin had a few chances in the second half, but could not capitalize.

The third quarter was a defensive battle, but Wisconsin had the better field position and a Badger punt pinned the Vols at their own one with just under six minutes to play in the period. After Tennessee was unable to produce a first down, the Badgers got the ball back at their own 41.

P.J. Hill ran for 17 yards on first down and the Badgers reached the Tennessee 10 before the drive stalled. Taylor Mehlhaff came on and booted a 27-yard field goal to make it a 21-17 game.

Tennessee, which had just one first down in the third quarter, finally put together a sustained march and drove to the Wisconsin 11. Daniel Lincoln came on for a 29-yard field goal, but the Badgers blocked it to keep it a four- point game.

Back came the Badgers and a 50-yard run by P.J. Hill set up a first down at the Tennessee 18. The next two plays went nowhere and a third-down pass to Travis Beckum came up two yards shy of the first down. Wisconsin kept its offense on the field, but Donovan was unable to find a receiver and threw incomplete with just under six minutes remaining.

The Badgers then appeared to recover a Tennessee fumble when Briscoe was stripped following a 25-yard catch and run. After a lengthy video review, it was determined that Wisconsin's Jay Velai did not have possession of the fumbled football before falling out of bounds.

Tennessee eventually punted it back to Wisconsin with 1:26 to play and the Badgers started from their own 12. Donovan drove the offense across midfield, but went for the end zone from the 45 and had his pass picked off by Antonio Wardlow at the goal line with 26 seconds remaining to seal it for the Vols.

"Certain guys, at certain times of the game, could have capitalized better for us," said Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema. "We needed to play a very, very clean game overall for us to get a win."

Donovan completed 14-of-24 passes and also ran for a score. Beckum, the Badgers' leading receiver, finished with just two catches -- both late in the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin fumbled on its opening drive inside the Tennessee 30 when Paul Hubbard was stripped at the end of a 27-yard reception. The Vols responded with a nine-play series for the game's first touchdown. A 40-yard pass from Erik Ainge to Denarius Moore keyed the set and Jones performed his goal-line specialty with a three-yard run for the touchdown.

David Gilreath returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Tennessee 22 and it took the Badgers just five plays to tie the game. Donovan finished the quick drive with a six-yard touchdown run, taking a helmet-to-helmet hit by Tennessee's Eric Berry as he dove for the end zone.

Tennessee was in position to score on its next series, but Lennon Creer fumbled inside the Wisconsin 15.

The Vols went in front early in the second quarter with a three-play, 59-yard drive. Ainge completed passes of 10 and 20 yards before finding Briscoe with a 29-yard scoring strike for a 14-7 lead.

Wisconsin went three-and-out, as Donovan was knocked out of the game with what appeared to be a knee injury, and Tennessee again went to the offense in great field position at its own 49. Erik Ainge needed just four plays to put his team in the end zone, hitting Cottam with a 31-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-7.

Donovan returned for the next series and directed a 70-yard scoring march to pull the Badgers within seven. He completed passes of 13, 11 and 16 yards during the nine-play drive, before finishing it with a four-yard scoring toss to Andy Crooks with just over a minute left in the half.

Game Notes

The Vols improved to 25-22 in bowl games, including 8-7 under Fulmer...The Badgers fell to 10-9 in bowl games, including 1-4 in the Outback/Hall of Fame Bowl...Wisconsin was trying to join Michigan as the only Big Ten schools ever to have defeated Southeastern Conference opponents in bowl games in three consecutive seasons...Beckum's two catches allowed him to tie the Wisconsin single-season record for receptions with 75, set by Lee Evans in 2001.

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