A Nightmare in Neyland for Kentucky -

Saturday night, Mark Stoops and his Kentucky Wildcats travelled to Knoxville for
a game against the #7 Tennessee Volunteers. In a season that has been full of unmet
expectations, it represented a chance for the Wildcats to end the season on a relatively
high note compared to how the rest of the season had gone. It was going to be a tough
task in front of 100,000 screaming fans pumped up for what Tennessee dubbed “Dark
Mode”. Paired with the fact that Kentucky had only beaten Tennessee once in the last
40 years in Knoxville, it seemed improbable.

The game got off to a great start for Kentucky, when Jamarion Wilcox took the
opening handoff 50 yards. It was an explosive play that Kentucky’s offense had lacked
all season. Kentucky would ultimately get the ball to the 5 yard, but were unable to
punch it in. Tennessee would follow that up with a good drive of their own that ended
with no points when the field goal sailed wide left. Kentucky would cash in the next drive
with plays of 25 to Hardley Gilmore IV, 17 yards to Dane Key and finishing it off with a
27 yard TD pass to Josh Kattus. The two teams would alternate possessions after that
with punts, turnovers and missed FGs. Then, Tennessee was able to punch in their first
score after a 14 play 64 yard TD drive to tie it up. Kentucky would answer with a 10
play, 61 yard drive of their own for an Alex Raynor 32 yard FG and the 10-7 halftime
lead.

Kentucky’s dream half turned into a nightmare in the second half. Tennessee
would take the opening possession of the second half 60 yards to the Kentucky 16 yard
line and it looked like the game was going to be all tied up. However, Max Gilbert would
miss his 3 rd field goal of the game (he had made 12 straight). Tennesse was doing all it
could to help Kentucky win the game, but they just couldn’t capitalize on the miscues.
Kentucky’s first 3 possessions of the 2 nd half would end in a fumble, punt and then
interception. Tennessee would score touchdowns after both turnovers for a 21-10 lead.
That was the least of the worries for UK. They lost Barion Brown in the first half to a rib
injury and then Brock Grandagriff would leave after the 2 nd series of the 2 nd half due to
injury as well. Add them to the list of 5 starters who were already out of the game due to
injury.

Even with everything stacked against them, the injuries, the history in Neyland
and Stoops’ record in games his team goes down by 10+ points at any point, the

Wildcats didn’t quit and still had their chances to win the game. The ensuing drive after
going down 21-10, Kentucky would take the ball and score after a 6 play 75 yard drive
that was capped off with a perfectly thrown 32 yard TD pass to Jamori Maclin, his first
catch since the Ole miss game and his first TD catch as a Wildcat. He would follow that
up by catching the 2 point conversion and Kentucky was only down 3 points, 21-18.
Kentucky would force a Tennessee punt on the following possession and have decent
starting field position at their own 36 yard line. It started off promising with Kentucky
taking the ball to the Tennessee 49 yard line until an old familiar monster would rear it’s
head, self-imposed mistakes. Gavin Wimsatt, in for the injured Vandagriff and fresh off
the previous TD pass, would drop the 2 nd down snap for a 6 yard loss back to the
Kentucky 45 yard line. An incomplete would follow, but Aidan Laros would pin
Tennessee deep after a 47 yard punt to the Tennessee 9 yard line. Tennessee would
take the ball and drive 91 yards for the game sealing TD aided with 2 3 rd and 7
conversions. Kentucky would get another chance to score but would turn it over on
downs. Tennessee would take the ball and run out the clock.

It’s been a recurring theme for Kentucky all season, self-imposed mistakes and
an inability to consistently move the ball. What has also become a recurring theme the
last 4 losses, the defenses inability to get stops on 3 rd down. Tennesse would go 7-14
on 3 rd down, following games where Auburn went 8-14, Florida went 6-12 and Vandy
would go 8-13. The normally stingy defense, that was ranked in the top 5 in the country
for yards allowed, has also given up an average of 484 yards the last 3 games. The
wear and tear of having an anemic offense is starting to take its toll on that side of the
ball.

There were some bright spots for Kentucky. Jamarion Wilcox has seemingly
taken over as RB1 after carrying the ball 17 times for 102 yards, a robust 6 yards per
carry. On the defensive side of the ball, Alex Afari filled in very capably for the injured
D’Eryck Jackson. These should be things to take from the game and to build on with the
second bye week coming next week. Kentucky gets Murray State after the bye, before
finishing the season with Texas and Louisville.

Saturday night, Kentucky travelled to Knoxville for a game to try and salvage this
season with Tennessee taking the field in Dark Mode. Fitting for a season that has been
such a nightmare for Kentucky.