Kentucky Falls at Tennessee, 28-18
Freshman Jamarion Wilcox rushed for a career-high 102 yards but Kentucky lost to No. 7 Tennessee 28-18 on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
The Cats played two quarterbacks in the game, with Brock Vandagriff starting and passing for 123 yards and a score. Gavin Wimsatt came in when Vandagriff was injured in the second half and the Rutgers transfer passed for 69 yards and a score.
Kentucky received the opening kickoff and on the first play from scrimmage, Jamarion Wilcox scampered 50 yards down the right sideline to the UT 27. Vandagriff then connected with Barion Brown for eight yards. An offsides penalty gave the Cats five more yards. The Cats would get to the UT five yard line. But on fourth and two, Vandagriff’s pass intended for Dane Key was incomplete and the Cats turned the ball over on downs.
Tennessee would use it’s fast-paced offense to quickly get out of the hole and across midfield. However, the UK defense would stand tall, forcing a Tennessee field goal attempt. The 43-yarder from Max Gilbert hooked left and was no good, and the Cats took over at their own 25 with 7:55 to play in the first quarter.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Vandagriff found Hardley Gilmore for a 25-yard gain to midfield. Three plays later, Vandagriff found Key on the left sideline, and the Lexington native made a spectacular catch for a 17-yard gain and a first down. Two plays later, Vandagriff found tight end Josh Kattus for a 27-yard touchdown. Alex Raynor made the point after and UK led 7-0 with 5:28 to play in the first quarter.
The Vols would get a pair of first downs on their next drive, getting to midfield. Tennessee would punt and UK would take over at its own seven yard line with 3:20 left in the period.
UK would get out of the hole on a connection from Vandagriff to Brown for 16 yards. However, three plays later, Vandagriff was intercepted by UT’s Andre Turrentine and the Vols took over at the UK 45 with 1:28 left in the quarter.
On the second play of the next UT drive, Kentucky linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson forced a fumble that was recovered by Keehsawn Silver, giving the Cats the ball at their own 22 with just 54 seconds left in the quarter.
As the second quarter began, Kentucky was forced to punt and Tennessee took over at its own 45 with 14:46 remaining in the half.
Tennessee would drive into Kentucky territory and appeared to be ready to tie the game. But a pass breakup by Jordan Lovett and a sack by Tyrese Fearbry forced a UT field goal attempt. However, Gilbert missed wide right and the score remained 7-0 Cats with 12:14 left in the half.
Kentucky was unable to do anything with the next drive and the Cats punted again. This time, UT took over at its own 35 after a 55-yard punt by UK’s Aidan Laros.
The Vols would go on a 14-play, 65-yard drive, ending with a one-yard touchdown run from Peyton Lewis. Gilbert would add the PAT and the game was tied 7-7 with 4:45 left in the half.
Kentucky would methodically march down the field on the next drive, with the help of a roughing the passer call on Tennessee. Just before the half, the Cats got into the UT red zone before the drive stalled. Raynor connected on a 32-yard field goal, giving the Cats a 10-7 lead with 30 seconds left in the half. That would be the halftime score.
UT got the ball to start the third quarter and the Vols wasted no time getting into UK territory. The Vols would eventually get into the UK red zone before the Cats again stepped up, forcing another UT field goal attempt. For the third time in the game, Gilbert missed, this time wide left, and the Cats took over at their own 20 with 11:25 left in the third quarter.
Kentucky would get a first down on the ensuing drive, but on the next play, Vandagriff was hit and fumbled and Tennessee recovered at the UK 28. The Vols would use five plays to cover those 28 yards, ending with a Dylan Sampson seven-yard touchdown rush. Gilbert added the point after and Tennessee led 14-10 with 8:28 left in the third quarter.
The teams would exchange punts before Kentucky, with Wimsatt at quarterback for the injured Vandagriff, marched into UT territory using the ground game. However, Wimsatt would be intercepted by Tennessee’s Will Brooks, who returned it to the UK 10. Two plays later, the Vols would score on a touchdown pass from Nico Iamaleava to Miles Kitselman. The extra point made it 21-10 Tennessee near the end of the third quarter.
As the fourth quarter began, Kentucky drove into Tennessee territory. That’s when Wimsatt found Ja’Mori Maclin for a 32-yard touchdown. The Cats would go for two, and Wimsatt found Maclin again to convert the try, cutting the UT lead to 21-18 with 13:31 remaining.
The Kentucky defense did its job on the next drive, forcing Tennessee into a three-and-out. The Vols would punt and the Cats took over at their own 34 with 12:51 left in the game.
On the second play of the UK drive, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye rushed for 13 yards to get the Cats near midfield. However, the drive stalled and Kentucky punted it back to Tennessee, who took over at its own nine yard line with 10:09 to play.
Tennessee would score on a six-yard touchdown rush by Sampson to make it 28-18 with 4:55 to play.
Kentucky is off next week before returning to action on Nov. 16 against Murray State.
