Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said his team and Tennessee were both very hungry teams, and the game came down to a goal line stand that went Tennessee’s way in a 17-13 victory by the Vols.

“This is an extremely difficult loss for our team,” Stoops said. “I really appreciate our team’s effort and their attitude and their preparation and their fight.”

Coming up a yard short is a tough pill to swallow, Stoops said.

“Defensively, I felt like we played extremely good the majority of the night,” Stoops said, and added that the game came down to 50/50 balls, which is Tennessee’s strength.

“That hurt us tonight,” Stoops said. “You take away some of those 50/50 catches against some very, very talented receivers and you play a solid game.”

On offense, his players made some good runs, but still have to find a way to get the ball in the end zone.

“You make that yard, you make a couple plays, you get the ball in the end zone and it’s a much different situation, much different locker room,” Stoops said. “But it didn’t happen and we’ve got to regroup and get back to work.”

He said Sawyer Smith was available, but Lynn Bowden led a solid drive at the end as the offense is methodical at this point in the season.

Stoops said Tennessee’s strength on defense is up front and the Vols’ secondary has played well.

“It makes it tough, we did miss some short yardage plays today, certainly the one at the end,” he said.

Asked about timeouts at the end, Stoops said he preferred to keep three timeouts because of the look they had on defense and a chance to get the ball to the perimeter.