By Jimmy Hyams
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Kentucky Wildcats can be ranked No. 12. They can be 7-2. They can be favored by a touchdown. They can beat Florida in The Swamp. They can mall Mississippi State.
But they can’t beat Tennessee in Neyland Stadium.
Behind a stout defense, Darrell Taylor’s four sacks, a big-play offense, and a stunningly efficient run game, Tennessee (5-5) knocked off Kentucky 24-7 Saturday at Neyland Stadium — Jeremy Pruitt’s second win this season over a ranked team.
How big was the win?
Pruitt let quarterback Jarrett Guarantano meet with the media post-game for the first time this season – that’s how big.
The victory restored Tennessee’s bowl hopes with Missouri and Vanderbilt next on the docket.
And it sent the 10,000-plus Kentucky fans that made their way to Neyland North bound with nothing to cheer about.
Kentucky hasn’t won in Knoxville since 1984 – when Ronald Reagan was president, Bear Bryant was one year removed from coaching and Harry Potter wasn’t even a figment of J.K. Rowling’s imagination.
Pruitt challenged his team to do something that seemed virtually impossible – outrush Kentucky.
He might as well have asked them to climb Mount Leconte.
Remember, this was a Tennessee team that looked inept in rushing for 20 yards on 26 carries against Charlotte – the same Charlotte team that allowed Marshall to rush for 151 Saturday.
“Coach Pruitt challenged us to win the rushing battle,’’ said center Ryan Johnson after UT did just that, 215 to 77. “We want to be a smash mouth team that runs downhill.’’
Maybe so, but that has shown up so seldom that it seemed unlikely that the Vols would be able to do it against one of the better run defenses in the SEC.
The run total was aided by a 59-yard reverse to receiver Jordan Murphy and runs of 29 yards by Ty Chandler (16 for 89 yards) and 22 by Tim Jordan (15 for 63).
Until the Vols got conservative at times in the second half, the play calling was imaginative and effective. Offensive coordinator Tyson Helton kept Kentucky off balance and didn’t ask the offensive line to do things it couldn’t do – like constantly block for up-the-middle running plays.
But while the play calling helped, this was the line’s best performance of the season – better than the South Carolina or Auburn games.
And the team’s performance even drew praise from the hard-to-please Pruitt.
“This was far and away the most complete game we played,’’ Pruitt said.
Pruitt talked about explosive plays – the Vols had first-down gains of 38, 25, 29, 39 and 59 yards.
He praised the defense for “putting the fire out’’ when Kentucky mounted drives. Two Wildcat marches of 15 and 14 plays resulted in missed field goals, one blocked by Shy Tuttle.
Tennessee also forced three turnovers and, for the most part, contained SEC rushing leader Benny Snell, who had 81 yards but didn’t find the end zone.
Then, there was the extraordinary performance by outside linebacker Darrell Taylor, who had a career-high four sacks, half-a-sack off the school record. Taylor has seven sacks this season, all in two games.
“All week we stressed not letting the quarterback out of the pocket,’’ said Taylor, who had a strip-sack fumble recovery in the fourth quarter to stop one Kentucky possession.
Once, Kentucky failed to block Taylor and he had a free shot to the quarterback.
“My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree,’’ Taylor said.
Perhaps no play was bigger than Guarantano’s 39-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Callaway on the final play of the first half to give the Vols a 17-0 cushion. Pruitt was actually content to run out the clock in the first half, but Chandler gained 14 on a third-and-8 and Guarantano hit Callaway for 17 yards to the Kentucky 39 with five seconds left.
“I thought it was big for our momentum,’’ said Guarantano, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 197 yards and set a school record by throwing 146 consecutive passes without an interception.
Guarantano benefitted from a strong run game.
“Our offensive line played out of this world,’’ Guarantano said. “When we have a running game, we’re very hard to stop.’’
And now, the Vols are in position to make a bowl game.
“I think it’s important because the University of Tennessee is supposed to be in bowl games,’’ Pruitt said. “That’s the expectations here. That’s my expectation. That’s our players’ expectations.’’
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