Rapid Reaction: Streak-busting Kentucky gets defensive in huge win at Tennessee
Throughout Mark Stoops’ tenure at Kentucky, one of his biggest roles has been streak-buster.
For a Kentucky program that hadn’t been competitive in the SEC since the late 1970s, there were plenty of streaks that Stoops sought to end, and he’s had a significant amount of success. Another streak bit the dust Saturday afternoon in Knoxville. Kentucky had last won at UT in 1984. The UK defense turned a series of turnovers, including a pair of pick-6, into the foundation of a 34-7 upset victory over Tennessee.
It was the second consecutive week in which Kentucky’s defense, after being shredded by Ole Miss in Week 2, made the difference. The Cats intercepted 6 passes last week against Mississippi State. They now have forced 10 turnovers in the past 2 weeks, including 3 pick-6s.
After a scoreless 1st quarter, LSU transfer Kelvin Joseph jumped an errant Jarrett Guarantano pass at the UT 41-yard line, and took it down the right sideline for a touchdown to give Kentucky a lead it would not relinquish with 12:47 to play in the second quarter.
Only 2:14 later, Guarantano had driven the Vols into field goal range, but another pass found a UK defender, this time linebacker Jamin Davis, who rumbled 85 yards with the pass to extend the Kentucky lead to 14-0. A 3rd interception (by safety Tyrell Ajian) set Kentucky up on the edge of field goal range, and after a dropped pass in the end zone, UK extended its advantage to 17-0 on a 30-yard Matt Ruffolo field goal with 6:18 to go before halftime.
Tennessee finally answered, running the ball on 12 of 14 plays of a drive that ended in a 4-yard Ty Chandler scoring run, drawing the Vols to within 17-7 with 1:36 left in the half. Tennessee held a 203-75 total yard advantage in the opening half, but it hardly mattered.
The second half opened with a 3-and-out from the Vols, and Kentucky then went 76 yards on 11 plays, culminating in a 1-yard pass from Terry Wilson to Allen Dailey. That score, which moved UK’s advantage to 24-7, also ate up almost 6 minutes of clock, reaching the end zone with 7:24 left in the 3rd quarter.
After a single Vols first down as followed by yet another 3-and-out, Kentucky drove for another field goal, a 27-yard make from Ruffolo with 1:02 to play in the 3rd quarter, that stretched the lead to 27-7. From there, the Wildcats rode the ground game with Wilson and sophomore RB Chris Rodriguez for the rest of the game. Rodriguez’s 2-yard score early in the 4th quarter extended Kentucky’s edge to 34-7.
Kentucky moved to 2-2 on the season, and again, after 2 weeks without forcing a single turnover, exploited UT quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who had previously been outstanding against Kentucky, for a trio of turnovers, with a 1st-quarter fumble adding to the 2nd-quarter picks.
The Wildcats will now face Missouri on the road next week, due to SEC schedule moves. The Wildcats were previously set to host Georgia, but that game is moved back a week to Halloween night.
Tennessee suffered a second consecutive loss, moving to 2-2. The Vols’ next matchup will be hosting Alabama next weekend.
Given Guarantano’s struggles, look for UT’s quarterback to be a significant topic of discussion for the next week, although backup J.T. Shrout threw UT’s third interception in a brief 2nd-quarter appearance in relief of Guarantano. Touted freshman Harrison Bailey took over in the 4th quarter for the Vols.
Big Blue Beatdown
Grats Cats, the transitive effect says you are going to beat our Zou Tigers by about 68 to nothing. Guess we’ll see in a week.
2020 hell uva year
Smokey got his tail between his legs after this one!!! I’m a little drunk, but did shed a tear, been a long time comin!! Cats back in the mix!!
Oh my. That was oh so sweet.
Guarantano for president.
Well that should be the end of Guarantano starting. Time to turn the page. This year doesn’t count for eligibility anyway, so let’s see what Bailey has.
Bailey didn’t get a lot of work in the offseason…and Alabama would probably eat his lunch next week, but I almost to the point just let him go with it if he’s Tennessee’s future. Tenn needs to recruit better at the QB spot and can take off and run it too.
It’s highly unlikely we have a chance against Bama any way. Might as well get Bailey all the live reps for Bama and then the off week before Arkansas.
Congrats, ‘Cats! Nice win!
Great win for the Cats. Complete domination!
I had UK as 3rd best tm in the East and I still thought that after the first 2 losses. UT got a lot of momentum by winning out last yr. But none of the tms they beat had a winning record. Relative to the top tms in the East (UF, UGA) UT is still a long way off. They don’t have the talent to win the East.
You still had them as number 3 in the East after starting 0-2?
Sure you did.
This game was about Tennessee backing a below average QB because they weren’t able to get Bailey ready in time.
Guarantano had 43 second chances and while he’s managed to beat some very pedestrian teams, he’s NOT an SEC QB; that Pruitt and Cheney haven’t figured that out is the problem.
That said, hats off to Kentucky. They’ve usually found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory but Tennessee seems to have taken over that role.
Go to the Predictions article for this week and see my comments for this gm. Get back to me after that. I’ll wait……….
Not arguing with you calling THIS game; I’m talking about Kentucky being the 3rd best team in the East.
There’s a lot of football left and with them starting 0-2, they’ll have their hands full proving that.
Yes Volman, we have our hands full to finish 3rd after starting 0-2 but having the tie breaker with UT may be all it takes.
I don’t think it’s that pruitt and cheney have not figured it out. It’s that we don’t have a better option. Shrout is not it, saw that last year. Maurer is sometimes electric but not an sec qb. Bailey may be the answer but he’s hardly had any time. So now what, throw bailey in against the number 2 team in the nation next week? I want them to change it up as much as anyone but next week may not be the best idea. Then again, we have nothing to lose.
The only way a young player gets better is with reps. Make Bailey the starter this week and he gets three weeks of practice time before we play Arkansas.
Nothing but big smiles here, also, we gotta retire Terry Wilson’s jersey after this season. Beating UF at the Swamp, and then UT at Neyland is a rare breed here at UK.
Good game for you guys. I bet your wishing JG comes back next year too,lol. And I would not blame you. Good luck rest of the way.
lol thank you, same to yall. JG has killed us the last three games, he was a world killer against us. It was just a matter of time for him to have a bad one against us.
Sublem, add the Louisville victory in there too even though that is becoming automatic these days.
Wow!!! Congratulations to Coach Stoops and the rest of the Cats.
UK could honestly be 4 & 0 right now if it weren’t for a few bad plays in the first two games. After the Ole Miss game I was really worried about the secondary but it looks like the coaching staff has got the players going in the right direction.
Happy to see that. Kentucky is a team you like to see have some success. Tennessee is a team always enjoy watching struggle. That best O-line in the country is something special though.
2020 season shows just about anything can happen. I expected a bounce-back and a stronger effort from Vols. Kentucky looked like a well-coached, fundamentally sound ballclub. Definitely looked better than a 2-2 club. Tennessee has more problems than just on offense. ‘Cats pushed the Vols around up front a little bit today.
JG and oline coming through with the win
And…
Dammit, Tennessee! You’re making our first half against you look worse and worse!
Tennessee is back baby!
Congrats Kentucky. I picked UT to win because I thought they finally turned a corner. Not so sure now.
Rodriguez is a beast.
I still don’t understand why Rodriguez is not getting the bulk of the carries.
Congrats to UK. G struggles and UK plays an almost flawless game. Well done.
Class dude!! It’s been a long time comin we are thrilled in Lexington
UK didn’t need a flawless game, they didn’t play a flawless game. Admit it dvhill, UK played a lesser team and dominated them. Admit when your program just got *#%)@slapped. Mr. Potatohead is finally showing in year 3 why he is worse than Butch Jones was. Can’t even claim champions of life now.
Congratulations Kentucky. Enjoy a big old glass of bourbon with a special toast to JG for being an elite thrower of interceptions. 2020.
Thanks man, but to blame that beat down on one dude is a cop out. It’s been 36 years, we’re just vastly better than y’all this year
Vastly??? Nah. We just had a bad game
34-7
Nah. You got worked. Typical Tennesseean with that false sense of superiority. Em’ cats man handled y’all.
Kentucky dominated both lines of scrimmage.
Blaming it all on JG is misguided.
Pruitt’s 3rd year and the Vols just got blown out at home by Kentucky.
I have a comment in moderation for whatever reason but Pruitt has to be insane to keep running JG out there as the starter. I’m just thankful that he ran him out against the Dawgs.
If Pruitt benches JG, he might as well bench the o-line and d-line too because Kentucky manhandled them.
LOL. Where’s fuzzy and diesel and the rest of the big-talking Vawls?
Not talking much now, are they?
Just remember y’all, Fat Phil gave Pruitt an extension through 2025. You know, the guy who “stole” Jim Chaney from Georgia, and who loves recruiting three-stars so much we call him The Three Star General. The illiterate Alabamian redneck so stupid he didn’t know what asparagus was or how to wear a mask costing his program a cool $100K this week. Yeah. That guy.
Enjoy your never-ending mediocrity, Vawls. And remember: Nothing sucks like a big orange!
You’re nothing but a keyboard warrior keep my name out of your mouth cause I’ll beat the crap out of you if we werent behind a computer screen
We’ve got a certified telephone tough guy here, watch out now!!
lmao
Oooooooooooh.
Wait so who’s the keyboard warrior here? xD I remember your name vividly because your keyboard warrior attitude stood out the most in a lot of posts.
Just remember 1980. You’ll never be better than us until you can actually capitalize on your overrated recruiting classes
Pretty sure the last 4 games is the definition of being better.
And where did you end up after those games? The same place as Tennessee, no championship
Tennessee’s championship is old enough to drink now. They haven’t been close since then and there is nothing to indicate they are within a decade of changing that.
Close doesn’t count 11-1 might as well be 1-11 if you don’t win the national title
1998 wasn’t yesterday dude.
And don’t compare me to Fuzzy
Congrats, Kentucky. I picked Tennessee, glad I was wrong.
Most fun win of my life and I’m 42! 36 years is a long time!
Stoops get a ton out of 3* players.
He does, but he also has a bunch of 4 stars, and some 5’s here and there.
Congrats cats. Nice game. I wasn’t able to watch the 2nd half but sounds like they came out very focused and just took charge. Not sure where Vols go from here. Lots of problems other than G but as much as I hate it for him. He needs to sit. If I could sit the coaching staff I would too. Lack of preparation and then lack of effort in the 2nd half is inexcusable.
Thanks man, can’t lie it’s pretty sweet!
Congrats Kentucky. Unprepared. Undisciplined. Not really even lookin like they care. They thought they were gonna waltz in here for the W. Kentucky deserves all the credit but at this point im tuning out as soon as i see Bailey isnt oncthe field getting the reps he needs. Ive lost all faith in JG and its KILLING me
Thanks man, y’all will be fine
Congrats UK. Nice win
LOL. The real Tennessee finally reveals itself. We’ve been saying Mr. Potatohead was a downgrade from Butch Jones for 3 years now and UT fans wouldn’t listen. Now perhaps they are starting to realize it. GO KY. Who is next in line to smack the great orange puke streak down?
Easy on the “downgrade from Butch Jones” stuff. You don’t mean that.
Hell yes I do and I’ve been saying it for the past 3 years. He can’t recruit as well as Butch, he can’t coach as well, he can’t cover up their rapist players as well. At least Butch Jones was a legitimate head coach with experience. Mr. Potatohead was an out of work circus clown they hired off of the sidewalk and proves day in and day out he has no idea what he’s doing.
I never once saw Butch Jones throw his players under the bus but that’s all you heard day in and day out from Potatohead for his first 2 years. Every chance he got in front of a camera or microphone, he was bashing his players saying they had no business being on a football field. Truly pathetic and truly pathetic that UT hired that clown.
Youre delusional to say the least
*Raises hand. *
I do believe that would be us.
Great win by UK. This has already been a crazy season in the SEC. All the teams seem to be so different week to week..
Last week I said JG didn’t look as bad as people thought. This week – he did.
They low down, they dirty, they some snitches, and now they lost to Kentucky.
It ain’t that orange you can sit with!
Glad we played Kentucky the first week. The cats have been steadily getting better and better and we are going backwards.
Ky has a tendency to start slow. They need those MAC games to figure out what they are and are not. SEC schools aren’t a good place to do that. Go CATS!!!
Lol wow, Kentucky. Didn’t see that coming at all but what a beatdown.
UT was good at one thing anyway- cheap shotting after the tackle. Is anybody even watching?
Was yelling it all game…
Nice win for Ky. Wonder how long it will take Vol nation to turn on Pruitt like they did their other coaches? Last year was ga state. This year Ky. Vandy 3 in row not long ago.
How did it go for y’all?! Tough break brother you guys look really good until you didn’t.
I keep hearing Dr Smith’s voice, “oh the pain, the pain…” I turned it all off. Will read the autopsy tomorrow, but stunned is just not strong enough a word.
Has Pruitt lost the team?
Kentucky outplayed UT last year too. Can’t believe they extended Pruitt to 2025!! He will be 15 and 19 after this year. Say what you want about Butch Jones, but his record was much better and games more competitive. Fulmer and Pruitt must go. I hope UT put 5 dbs 50 yards deep and 6 in the box against Bama, might keep them from scoring 70 lol!!! Boooooooooooo
Kentucky Fried Smokey . Mmmm Mmmm finger lickin good !!