Kentucky at Tennessee, From Z14

Written By Tucker Harlin

By Tucker Harlin

Tennessee’s 28-18 win over Kentucky wasn’t a pretty one. Josh Heupel

As I anticipated, the Kentucky fans didn’t heavily populate Neyland Stadium. There was one in my vicinity that started doing this bizarre dance to “The Stroke” near the end of the third quarter.

Outside of watching that guy do whatever you’d call that dance, I had no real interaction with the Kentucky fans.

Overall, this wasn’t what you’d call a “feel good win” for Tennessee.

Tennessee fans don’t find the same joy in beating Kentucky as they do Florida or Alabama. They’ve seen that movie 85 times now.

They’ll enjoy the win for a few days, but the feeling is fleeting. Kentucky is more of a box to check than a cause for celebration among Vols fans.

In other words, it’s a game Tennessee wants to not lose more than it wants to win. And fortunately for Vols fans, they did not lose to the team up north.

These are my observations from Z14.

OFFENSE

The result from Tennessee’s offense Saturday was a frustrating one, mainly because of how close it was to blowing this game open.

The Vols were three dropped passes from Chris Brazzell, Miles Kitselman, and Chas Nimrod away from possibly turning 28 into 49. Outside of the drops, a Dylan Sampson fumble, and the usual penalties, there really wasn’t that much to gripe about over this offense.

Statistically, Nico Iamaleava played his best SEC game thus far.

The redshirt freshman finished 28/38 for 292 yards with a pass touchdown to Kitselman. The only mistake I can point to was not calling for the snap as soon as the final two seconds of the first half ran off the clock.

Per usual, the run game delivered.

Sampson ran for 142 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the last of which broke the program record for rush touchdowns in a single season. The second touchdown was a terrific group effort from both the offensive line and Nico to push him into the end zone.

The Vols did lose DeSean Bishop sometime in the first half, but freshman Peyton Lewis scored Tennessee’s first touchdown of the game in his absence.

They aren’t far from the 2022 offense’s explosivity, but lack of execution is still a thorn in the Vols’ side.

DEFENSE

Who would’ve thought Mark Stoops’ Kentucky Wildcats would score the second-most points on Tennessee through eight games?

The Wildcats made a statement on the first play of the game as running back Jamarion Wilcox ran for 50 yards into Tennessee territory. Kentucky didn’t score on that possession, but Brock Vandagriff and Josh Kattus hooked up for a 27-yard touchdown pass on the next drive.

However, the first two possessions weren’t harbingers of things to come. In fact, they were rather misleading.

Vandagriff was picked off by Vols safety Andre Turrentine on the Wildcats’ third possession, and they only crossed the 50 once more in the first half.

Kentucky’s first two possessions of the second half were turning points in the game.

Josh Josephs stripped Vandagriff and helped set up a go ahead score for the Vols on the first one. James Pearce decleated Vandagriff on a 3rd and 1, a play that ultimately took Vandagriff out of the game and forced Stoops to play Gavin Wimsatt.

Wimsatt’s first pass attempt of the game was an interception by Will Brooks to set up a short scoring drive for the Vols.

But amazingly, Wimsatt rebounded on the next drive. His passing touchdown to Ja’Mori Maclin was a thing of beauty, a play in which Jermod McCoy made every correct decision in defending.

Like every Tennessee fan’s elation from a win over Kentucky, Wimsatt’s success was fleeting. Outside of a facemask penalty on the final possession, the Wildcats couldn’t get any breaks to piece together a comeback.

In addition to Vandagriff, the Wildcats lost stud receiver Barion Brown early in the game. The injury bug expanded from seven to nine starters after another bruiser of a night in Neyland Stadium.

SUMMARY

Despite all of the close games in the last month, this team is 7-1.

Maybe Saturday’s result is indicative of the evenness of the league. Remember, this same Kentucky team only lost by a point to Georgia and won at Ole Miss just two weeks later.

Additionally, in a week with upsets aplenty, Tennessee did not fall victim.

Texas A&M, Penn State, Iowa State, Clemson, and Kansas State all took losses. All five of those teams were College Football Playoff hopefuls, and their losses only do Tennessee favors.

Survive and advance is now the name of the game, and Tennessee is doing just that.

Tucker Harlin
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