KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After clinging to a four-point lead at the half, No. 13 Tennessee scored 24 unanswered second-half points to take down No. 6 Kentucky, 34-6, in front of a raucous “Dark Mode” Homecoming crowd of 101,915 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
The Vols led 10-6 at the intermission and 13-6 after three quarters before finding the end zone three times in the fourth to improve to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. It marked their second straight home victory over a top-10 team after they beat Alabama, 26-10, on Oct. 17. The Wildcats (7-2, 5-2 SEC), who came in sitting atop the SEC standings, saw their six-game winning streak snapped.
The UT defense, which kept UK out of the end zone, forced three turnovers and limited the Cats to a 6-of-14 showing on third down conversions and an 0-for-2 night on fourth down. Senior linebacker Arion Carter led the charge, registering team highs of 13 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for losses and a quarterback hurry. Ten of his stops were solos.
Senior linebacker Jeremiah Telander also had double digits in tackles with 10, while senior nickel Qua Moss and junior linebacker Edwin Spillman were in on nine tackles each. Moss also had two fumbles forced, while junior free safety Dejuan Lane had an interception and senior cornerback Kayin Lee and sophomore defensive end Mariyon Dye added fumble recoveries.
Offensively, senior running back DeSean Bishop ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, increasing his season total to 1,048 yards and 13 scores. Bishop is the second player in UT history to register back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He joins Johnnie Jones, who did so in both 1983 and 1984. Sophomore running back Daune Morris picked up 85 yards on five carries and had his team’s third touchdown on the ground.
With neither team putting points on the board during the first 14:04 of the opening stanza, Tennessee finally broke the deadlock on the initial play of its third possession. Morris took a handoff from quarterback George MacIntyre, hit a crease in the line and darted 66 yards to paydirt. Junior kicker Cooper Ranvier’s extra point made it 7-0 Vols with 56 seconds left in the period.
Kentucky cut into the deficit with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter. After the Big Orange defense caused the Wildcats’ drive to stall at the UT 25, UK kicker Adam Zouagui entered and booted a 43-yard field goal to trim the UT advantage to 7-3.
The Vols got those three points right back on the next series. With a 36-yard, second-down pass from MacIntyre to sophomore wide receiver Radarious Jackson accounting for a large chunk of the drive, Ranvier came on to kick a 48-yard field goal and put his team up, 10-3, with 7:16 to go in the second period. Kentucky had the last word before halftime, however, getting a 25-yard Zouagui kick to send the teams into the locker room with the hosts clinging to a 10-6 edge.
Tennessee got the ball first to open the second half and was able to add on to its lead. With freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon carrying for 29 yards on the sixth of UT’s 10 plays during the drive, the Vols moved into position for Ranvier to drill a 39-yard field goal to make the score 13-6.
The Vols padded their lead early in the fourth quarter after a strip sack of Kenny Minchey by Moss and a recovery by Dye set the Vols up at the UK 36 with 30 seconds left in the third. On the fourth play from scrimmage, Brandon took the shotgun snap, flipped a shovel pass to Mike Matthews, and the junior wide receiver raced around left end into the checkerboard from 24 yards out to make it 20-6 with 13:34 on the clock.
After Carter sacked Minchey to foil a Wildcat fourth-down attempt, Tennessee was set up at the 50-yard line. A deep ball from MacIntyre to junior wide receiver Braylon Staley moved the sticks to the UK five. On the next play, Bishop rambled in to stake his squad to a 27-6 cushion with 9:45 remaining.
Kentucky had one last opportunity to respond, but the Big Orange defense turned back the Cats once more, halting the drive at the UT 22. The Vols then marched 65 yards in 10 plays, putting an exclamation mark on the proceedings and accounting for the game’s final score with 1:06 left on a five-yard carry from Bishop.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will be at Kyle Field in College Station next Saturday to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. The game time and television designation have not been finalized, but the contest will kick off sometime during the 3-4:15 p.m. broadcast window on either ESPN or SEC Network.
