History prevailed at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 7. Tennessee football bounced back from an overtime loss to South Carolina and kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive by beating Kentucky for the 39th time in 42 years.
“What did you expect?” should have been the response from longtime Tennessee fans after a 34-6 victory.
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So what if the Wildcats began the game 7-1, atop the SEC standings, and sitting pretty at No. 6 in the CFP rankings under first-year coach Will Stein. Or that they won at Oklahoma and South Carolina. Or that they upset LSU.
They couldn’t change the course of a series that repeatedly has gone Tennessee’s way for decades. Kentucky’s only win at Neyland since 1984 was six years ago when COVID reduced UT’s crowd to a fraction of its usual size.
Neyland was full and full-throated on this evening. That wasn’t any more surprising than another Tennessee victory over Kentucky.
The UT fan base sensed what was at stake, just as it did a month ago against Alabama. Tennessee (7-2, 4-2 SEC) has playoff aspirations of its own, and another victory over a top 10 team should improve its No. 13 status in the CFP rankings.
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The Vols won as they usually have this season with defense and a potent running game. But their running game had a different twist. Instead of leading rusher DeSean Bishop consistently grinding out yardage for four quarters, the Vols struck suddenly on a 66-yard touchdown run by Daune Morris late in the second quarter.
While UT’s performance was in character, the Wildcats – who lead the SEC in turnover margin – were atypically mistake prone in the first half. An end zone interception by Tennessee safety Dejaun Lane killed one drive. The Wildcats also suffered a lost fumble, and several first-half penalties came at the most inopportune time for their offense.
Conversely, the Vols were more opportunistic, which helped explain why they led 10-6 at halftime even though Kentucky had a 13-4 advantage in first downs.
Tennessee tacked on three points on their first drive of the second half, thanks to another big running play. Former starting quarterback Faizon Brandon did the legwork this time.
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Subbing for starter George MacIntyre on the play, Brandon ran 29 yards around left end to the Wildcats’ 23-yard line.
That set up Kentucky for another comeback. The Wildcats have overcome double-digit deficits in three of their seven wins.
But Brandon had the only comeback of note this time. Playing for the first time since Week 5, Brandon delivered his second big play in as many tries early in the fourth quarter.
Kentucky apparently was expecting another Brandon run. But he executed a short pitch to wide receiver Mike Matthews behind the line, and Matthews cruised 24 yards for UT’s second touchdown.
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A 14-point cushion was more than enough the way Jim Knowles’ defense was playing.
Egged on by a roaring crowd that reached 116 decibels, that defense overwhelmed the Wildcats throughout the second half.
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By the time UT stretched its lead to 27-6, linebacker Arion Carter had 12 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks; safety Qua Moss had forced a second Kentucky fumble and had nine tackles.
And by then, Kentucky looked nothing like a top 10 team, and more like all those other Wildcats that were overmatched in a border rivalry dominated by Tennessee.
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John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football again brings out the worst in Kentucky | Adams
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