NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Last season, Tennessee’s bowl hopes were at the mercy of Patton Robinette.

He crushed them.

With the Volunteers leading 24-17, and their bowl eligibility at stake once again, the Vanderbilt redshirt sophomore quarterback had another chance to give UT’s season an unexpected ending.

This time, though, Tennessee’s defense held the Commodores out of the end zone, securing a 24-17 victory to make the Vols bowl eligible for the first time since 2010.

“This game kind of summarized our season,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said. “There was adversity, and we showed great resiliency, and we found a way to win the football game.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to get it done.”

Specifically, it was the Vols defense that got it done, especially in the fourth quarter.

Following a three-yard rushing touchdown by Vanderbilt redshirt freshman running back Ralph Webb to close out the third quarter, UT’s offense started the fourth quarter in horrible fashion.

On the first play of the final period, sophomore quarterback Joshua Dobbs threw his second interception of the night to Torren McGaster, setting the Commodores up in UT territory with a chance to knot the game up at 24.

Two plays later, however, it was redshirt junior Brian Randolph who answered with a pick of his own.

“We’re a great family as a team,” Randolph said. “For example, in the South Carolina game, they had our backs when the defense was struggling, so at times today when they struggled, we felt like we had to return the favor.”

And the defense did just that, limiting Vanderbilt to 55 yards and three first downs on its final three drives to preserve UT’s seven-point lead.

The final drive, however, did not come without its anxious moments.

With Robinette looking to hand the Vols another heart-breaking memory, the Commodores were able to pick up two first downs and advance to Tennessee’s 49-yard line.

That was as far as they would get, though, as a pass for no gain followed by three consecutive incomplete passes would clinch the Vols’ sixth victory of the season.

“Winning is hard,” Jones said. “Winning is very fragile, as we’ve experienced this year. You have to learn how to win. You have to learn how to close out games. You have to learn how to close games out when everything doesn’t go your way and maybe you don’t have your best performance, but you still find ways to win football games.

“That’s why it’s all-encompassing why tonight was big.”

The first half saw the majority of Tennessee and Vanderbilt’s scoring, as the Vols were able to score 17 of their 24 points in the opening 30 minutes of the ballgame.

Sophomore cornerback Cam Sutton got the Vols on the board first when he fielded a Colby Cooke punt and returned it 76 yards to the house.

“It was only a matter of time,” Sutton said. “The coaches did a great job of scheming them and we knew the way they were stepping up to the punt, the direction of the punt and stuff like that, and then my front team did a great job staying on their blocks.”

Dobbs capped the first half scoring one drive after Vanderbilt found the end zone for the first time — a 36-yard pitch and catch from Robinette to Steven Scheu — with a one-yard touchdown run to give UT a 17-10 lead heading into halftime.

Dobbs also scored the Vols’ lone second-half touchdown, an eight-yard rush with 3:19 left in the third quarter.

The Alpharetta, Ga., native rushed for 91 yards on the day and helped the Vols running attack continue to succeed after freshman running back Jalen Hurd was forced out of the game with an “upper body extremity” injury.

He was also aided by senior running back Marlin Lane, who finished the day with 51 yards on a season-high 16 carries.

“I come in every game with my mind ready to go,” Lane said. “I always prepare just in case something happens like this, so that I can keep the team going and keep their heads up and keep fighting forward.”

For the seniors, the victory means that they will be heading to a bowl game for the first time in their careers.

“They did not want it to end,” Jones said. “We were fighting to live two or three more weeks. I told them we had a team meeting on Monday at 3 o’clock, and it could be to go through our bowl schedule, or it could be to say goodbye and it kind of hit them.

“They said, ‘Coach, we’re not saying goodbye.’ This group has been resilient all year … I’m so proud of everyone associated with our football organization. We’re all aligned as one and that’s how you win, and we have that winning culture.”