In 1893, Tennessee fans welcomed neighboring Kentucky to Knoxville for the first game of this series, a game which ended in a 56-0 embarrassment. Similar to the series against Vanderbilt, the Vols started sliding. Unlike against Vanderbilt, Tennessee got on the right side of things early, winning the next two contests, before collecting a loss, a tie, and a win. Since 1930, Tennessee has led the series against Kentucky, despite a dismal 3-8-2 record from 1952 through 1964. But UT has only lost 7 times since. Can Tennessee continue the tradition of success, especially missing Bru McCoy on offense and now best pass coverage player Kamel Hadden on defense?
Kentucky started their season 5-0 with a pair of SEC wins over Vandey and a convincing beat down of Florida. Since then, they got embarrassed by Georgia 51-13 and then blown out by Missouri 38-21. Tennessee has big losses to Florida and Alabama, and has yet to have a convincing win over a team which has shown an ability to be a contender. Has Tennessee been proven to be more of a conceptual threat than a productive team? A major point holding them back has been massive inconsistency. UT was on the way to blowing out Alabama last week with a 20-7 lead before the offense AND defense disappeared, losing 34-20. Milton was connecting on deep passes, then he wasn’t. Would the same problems plague Tennessee against Kentucky?
An easy place to look for this game’s success would obviously be Joe Milton. And, to be fair, I think a big part of the game’s outcome was dependent on him. While his deep ball was not amazing, he had multiple big completions throughout the game, not only clustered in a single quarter. He connected on 17 of 20 passes, his best completion rate of the year. Also, Joe took designed runs for a mix of tough yardage and big gains, and was willing to scramble to pick up yards when the pass coverage was too tight. But Dylan Sampson had a heck of a game. He spun out of tackles, ran through the defense, and got tough yards when the game needed to be milked, scoring the winning points after contacting multiple Kentucky defenders. It was his legs which bore the brunt of the 4th quarter touchdown drive, and which burned time on the game ending drive to keep the ball away from UK when up only 6 points. The defense did enough to force a long field goal, which was missed, and limit Kentucky’s offense to a late field goal attempt. But it was also on skates too frequently, giving up churning touchdown drives to a Kentucky passing game which had mostly been absent all year, something which will not get a win over Missouri, much less against Georgia.
Looking to put together a full four quarters from both sides of the ball, UT’s defense came out and forced a quick three-and-out. When next on the field, they pitched a four-and-out, as UK attempted to run on a short 4th down play at their own 34-yard line, but were held short. The defense gave up quite a few yards next time out, but finally forced some incompletions from the Wildcat’s QB, Devin Leary, and UK settled for a field goal. It was this point where the defense basically disappeared. Kentucky had open receivers and broke tackles on a pair of drives, covering 150 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
The offense came out like the defense, looking to prove a point. Jalen Wright took a run 52 yards for a score, shaking his way past defenders, and outrunning the rest. After the 4th down stop, Tennessee moved only a little closer, but settled for a field goal after a holding penalty moved them backwards. Some easy forward movement got Tennessee in field goal range again, and a decent 13-3 lead. But a UK touchdown spurred the offense, and Milton connected with Chas Nimrod for a big 39 yard score. Nimrod did nothing fancy, but as the UK defender looked to get up to speed to keep up with the receiver, he lost his footing and fell, leaving Nimrod to make the catch in the endzone. With time running out after the Wildcats cut the Volunteer lead to 20-17, Milton found Squirrel White for a 25 yard gain. With less than 10 seconds left, Coach Heupel called for the field goal team, and a 23-17 lead, where the score sat at the end of the first half.
To start the second half, Kentucky kicked off to Tennessee, but UT did nothing good, and punted for the first time on the night. Kentucky sought to capitalize on the short kick, but turned the ball over on downs after facing a no man’s land choice. Too short for a good punt, too long for a safe field goal, they threw deep and got nothing from it. Tennessee started moving, but was once again forced to settle for a field goal attempt, their fourth of the game, and second within the red zone. Sensing weakness, Kentucky pushed hard, but was halted late, settling for their own long field goal. As the announcers stated the Wildcat’s Alex Rayner felt comfortable anywhere within 55 yards, his kick went far left, and missed, giving UT the ball. Tennessee mixed pass and run to charge downhill, going 80 yards, mostly gained by Dylan Sampson, who finished with an emphatic punch up the middle, slipping off tacklers for a score and a 33-24 lead.
Kentucky, needing a touchdown to really draw within range to win the game, drove within field goal range. A defensive holding aided them along, but a false start on a third a 5 created a third and long which they could not overcome. Facing 4th and 2 with around 5 minutes remaining, UK took the easy field goal and a 33-27 game. Knowing UT’s offense had been inconsistent, it was not an unwise decision. But Dylan Sampson once again took the role of wrecking ball, and Joe Milton had a fortuitous scramble to put pressure on Kentucky to use their time outs. When those were exhausted, a Kentucky defender dropped to the ground after making the tackle on a Tennessee run with 44 seconds remaining. Due to the injury, it created a 10 second runoff, and the game clock expired before the play clock, ending the game 33-27 for a UT win.
Oddity Trivia of the Game: Tennessee was penalized 9 times for 70 yards compared to UK’s 4 penalties for 21 yards. Last week, Tennessee was penalized 8 times for 55 yards compared to Alabama being flagged once for 5 yards. Not only was it the second week in a row Tennessee’s Elijah Herring was penalized for a defensive Delay of Game for clapping (simulating a snap motion), but it was also back-to-back weeks where Tennessee’s opponent was never flagged for a live play penalty.