University of Tennessee Athletics
Four Downs: Butch Jones by the Numbers
December 07, 2015 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
Each week, UTSports.com takes a look at the numbers from the weekend past and the weekend ahead in Four Downs. This week, it is a special edition to commemorate the third anniversary of Butch Jones becoming head football coach at the University of Tennessee.
In the 1,095 days since Dave Hart named Jones as the caretaker of Tennessee football, there have been numerous big numbers and huge performances. The numbers have grown every year, as has the Vols’ success on the field.
First Down: 50 – A Special Number
When Jones took over at Tennessee, he had 50 career wins as a head coach. He has added 20 to that total in the three years since, but the number 50 keeps coming up in Jones’ tenure on the sidelines.
Jones led Tennessee to its 50th bowl appearance in 2014, a 45-28 win over Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
50 points has been another milestone that has been big to the Volunteers over the three seasons that Jones has led the Volunteers. His teams have scored 50-plus points on six occasions, four of those coming this year.
After a 52-20 win over Western Kentucky in 2013 and a 50-16 victory over Kentucky in 2014, the Vols went on a scoring blitz this season, one that started on day one. Tennessee put up 59 against Bowling Green in the season opener, 55 against Western Carolina, 52 against Kentucky and 53 versus Vanderbilt, all wins for the Vols. It was the first time since 1993 that UT scored 50 points in four games.
53 points against the Commodores was the biggest output by a Tennessee offense against an SEC opponent since a 59-21 win over Mississippi State on Nov. 15, 2003. It was the most against Vanderbilt since a 65-0 victory in 1994.
Tennessee has scored 412 points in 2015, the most since the Vols racked up 434 points in 2012. It is the eighth time in program history that UT has scored 400 points in a season.
With a bowl game still to be played, the 412 points ranks fifth all-time in UT history, one point ahead of the 411 from Peyton Manning-led offenses in 1995 and 1997. While the all time record of 471 in 1993 may be slightly out of reach, The Vols are just 22 points away from the 434 scored in 2012 for fourth, 30 from 1990’s 442 and 43 away from second all-time, 2007’s 455.
Second Down: 6 – 1,000-yard Rushers
In nine years as a head coach, Jones has had six players run for 1,000 yards in a season, including two of his three years at Tennessee.
Prior to coming to Rocky Top, Jones coached Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour to 1,122 yards on the ground while also throwing for 3,652 in Jones' first season. At Cincinnati, Isaiah Pead posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2010 (1,029) and 2011 (1,338), while George Winn ran for 1,334 in 2012.
Rajion Neal ran for 1,124 yards for Jones in 2013 and Jalen Hurd has 1,158 heading into the Vols’ appearance in the Outback Bowl.
But 1,000-yard individual seasons have not been the only measuring stick for success for Jones’ teams on the ground. The Vols have averaged 2,308 rushing yards per season since Jones’ arrival, with a high of 2,682 this season.
The number is even more impressive considering where UT was when he took over. In the three seasons prior to Jones, UT averaged nearly 900 fewer yards per year on the ground, 1,475 from 2010-12 with a low of just 1,081 in 2011.
Over that period, Tennessee ran for 200 yards in a game as a team only three times. Under Jones, Tennessee has run for 200 yards at least three times each season, with five 200-yard games in 2013 and a whopping eight in 2015. It is the first time since 1993 that the Vols have run for 200 yards on eight occasions. In that period, UT had three seasons, 2004, 1998 and 1994, where they ran for 200 yards seven times.
With 331 yards against the Commodores in the season finale, Tennessee recorded its second 300-yard rushing performance of the season, both against FBS opponents. UT ran for a season-high 399 against Bowling Green.
Prior to this season, The Volunteers had only rushed for 300 yards against FBS opponents twice in the last 10 seasons, 344 against South Carolina in 2014 and 380 against Western Kentucky in 2009. In that period, UT also had 300-yard games against FCS opponents Austin Peay (315 in 2013) and UT-Martin (332 in 2010). The game against WKU was the Hilltoppers’ first ever contest as an FBS school.
Third Down: Quick Hits
65 – Rushing touchdowns under Jones. The Volunteers have 27 rushing touchdowns in 2015, the most since the 1999 Vols ran for 30. In the time since, UT has had 20 or more rushing TDs just three times. The Vols scored 20 touchdowns on the ground in 2000 and 2014 and 21 in 2004. This marks the first time since 1999-2000 that Tennessee has had back-to-back 20+ touchdown seasons.
5,070 – Total yards so far in 2015, the most in Jones’ three seasons at UT and most since the 2012 Vols put up 5,711.
220,658 – Twitter followers (as of midnight). When Jones took over at Tennessee, he had a little over 10,000 followers on the social media site. By the end of his first weekend, Jones had 40,000 and the numbers have only taken off from there. Jones is the third most-followed coach in college football
42 – Career victories in conference play. Jones is 42-26 (.617) against conference opponents in his career.
59 – Victories in Jones’s head coaching career when leading at halftime, against five losses, a .921 percentage.
5 - Consecutive wins by Volunteer head coaches in their first game at Tennessee after Jones defeated Austin Peay, 45-0, in 2013. Interim head coach Jim Chaney won his only game leading the Vols in the 2012 finale against Kentucky, 37-17. Derek Dooley defeated UT Martin, 50-0 in his debut and Lane Kiffin took down Western Kentucky, 63-7. Phillip Fulmer won his first game at Tennessee, however you choose to calculate it. Fulmer defeated Southwestern Louisiana, 38-3, in 1992, the first game credited to his career record, as interim coach filling in for Johnny Majors. Fulmer won the 1993 Hall of Fame Bowl, 38-23, over Boston College after being named head coach after the 1992 season. Fulmer also won his regular-season debut in 1993, 50-0 over Louisiana Tech.
Dating back to J.A. Pierce taking over as the first full-time coach in Tennessee history in 1899, all but four of the 24 Volunteer coaches have won their debuts at UT. Andrew Stone in 1910, Harvey Robinson in 1953, Wyatt in 1955 and Majors in 1977 each saw their teams fall in their respective openers.
Fourth Down: A Look Ahead
51 – Times Tennessee has taken the field in a bowl game, once the Vols run out against Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.
26 – Bowl victories for Tennessee, including a TaxSlayer Bowl win last season. Jones became the first UT coach since Phillip Fulmer to win his initial bowl game at Tennessee.
Overall, six Tennessee coaches have won their first bowl game at Tennessee. Robert Neyland, then just a Captain in rank, won UT’s first-ever postseason appearance, defeating New York University in the New York Charity Classic in 1931. John Barnhill defeated Tulsa in the Sugar Bowl after the 1942 season, Doug Dickey did the same to the Golden Hurricane in the 1965 Bluebonnet Bowl, while Bill Battle led his first team to a win over Air Force in the Sugar Bowl after the 1970 season. Fulmer won his first game after being named head coach, a win over Boston College in the Hall of Fame Bowl, a game that would later become the Outback Bowl.
25 – Days until Jones leads the Volunteers onto the field in Tampa at the Outback Bowl and it’s once again Football Time in Tennessee!
