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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Cedric Houston ran for 87 yards and a touchdown, and No. 7 Tennessee used a dominating defense to hold Kentucky to 187 yards in a 20-7 victory Saturday.
The Volunteers (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) clinched a share of the SEC East division title with Georgia and Florida.
But under SEC’s final tiebreaker — a combination of Bowl Championship Series rankings and head-to-head results — it appears Georgia likely will be the division representative in the league title game next Saturday against LSU.
Kentucky (4-8, 1-7) led 7-3 at halftime but recorded only five first downs in the second half in the final game of its first season under coach Rich Brooks. Four of Tennessee’s last five opponents have scored seven points or fewer.
Tennessee wasn’t an offensive juggernaut, as the Volunteers finished with 270 yards of offense in cold, windy conditions. But the offense turned in a 13-play, 66-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes to seal the win on Houston’s 10-yard run with 1:27 left.
Tennessee’s only touchdown to that point came on an 18-yard pass from Casey Clausen to Mark Jones 90 seconds into the second half. That put the Volunteers ahead 10-7.
Tennessee passed up a 41-yard field-goal attempt into the wind in the third quarter, but James Wilhoit made a 47-yarder with the wind early in the fourth quarter. Wilhoit also made a 33-yarder in the second quarter.
Kentucky capped a 14-play, 66-yard drive with a fourth-down, 1-yard touchdown run by Arliss Beach with 2:24 left in the first quarter.
A blown call early in the second quarter kept Kentucky from possibly expanding its lead. Tennessee’s William Revill lost the ball while struggling for extra yards after catching a pass, and Kentucky’s Dustin Williams picked up the loose ball and returned it to the Tennessee 3.
However, officials ruled that Revill didn’t fumble until after he was down. Replays showed Revill appeared to fumble while still upright.
Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen completed 17 of 39 passes for 121 yards. Lorenzen finished his career with 862 completions, second-best in SEC history. Peyton Manning had 863 completions for Tennessee from 1994-97.
Kentucky senior Derek Abney returned a first-quarter punt 33 yards, making him the first player in NCAA Division I-A history to record at least 2,000 receiving yards, 2,000 kickoff return yards and 1,000 punt return yards in his career.
