Tennessee won a track meet disguised as a football game Saturday night at Kentucky. Both teams raced up and down Kroger Field against minimum resistance.
Fortunately, there was more good news than bad. The Volunteers scored 56 and sent half the home crowd home early. The Wildcats scored 34, lost their 10th consecutive Southeastern Conference game but gave Josh Heupel another list of misplays to correct.
“Offense, defense, both units, there are things that we can certainly clean up. And we’ll need to as we keep going through conference play.”
Heupel found a silver lining.
“Proud of our guys, the way they competed, coming on the road, getting a win.”
The coach added a valid point: Kentucky took Texas into overtime just seven days ago.
The Volunteers’ bounce back reclaimed the possibility of a place in the post-season playoffs. They now have a 6-2 record. All they have to do to remain in that race is knock off Oklahoma, New Mexico State, Florida and Vanderbilt.
There really was some other good news. The list of mistakes wasn’t as long as it was the previous Saturday at Alabama. Joey Aguilar was much better – three touchdowns and 20 of 26 for 396 yards passing, no interceptions and not as many bruises. Three receivers went over 100 yards each.
The Vols had a lot of trouble on defense. Kentucky, not considered an offensive power, gained 476 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley threw five touchdown passes. He had four total in previous games.
Is the Vol defense deadly?
Heupel still says it is fixable.
“It comes down to fundamentals … that is tackling.”
On the biggest breakdown, speedy Kendrick Law took a perimeter screen pass 71 yards for a TD.
The coach said “we just did it wrong and essentially got two guys in the gap. It is correctable. It is correctable at this point. That comes down to fundamentals.”
Aguilar hit some really big plays, three of 50 or more yards. Chris Brazzell had four receptions for 138 and a touchdown. Mike Matthews caught six for 107 and a score. Braylon Staley grabbed six for 105. Ethan Davis, finally off the injured list, had a TD catch.
DeSean Bishop didn’t do much running for distance but scored two touchdowns. Star Thomas and Peyton Lewis ran for one each. The Vols totaled only 108 rushing.
Safety Edrees Farooq made a great individual play for the defense. From a blitz position, he batted a Boley pass upward, caught it coming down and turned it into a 45-yard pick-six.
Heupel was asked how Aguilar does what he did.
“He’s calm. He does have really good touch. He trusts his wide receivers. He’s got good rapport with them. Protection, most of it, has been really good.
“So, it’s a combination of his fundamentals, he has a strong arm but it’s a catchable ball, too. And so all of it together. I thought he saw the field really well.”
Was this the best we’ll see from Joey? Has he topped out?
“He has not. He’s eight games into this … Never too high, never too low. Fierce competitor, very tough mentally, physically, emotionally … Those are winning traits.”
Aguilar was spectacular in the two-minute drive (one minute and 37 seconds) before halftime, 10 plays, 75 yards, six completions, touchdown to Davis five ticks before intermission.
Score by quarters:
Tennessee 21 14 14 7 – 56
Kentucky 7 14 6 7 – 34
Scoring summary:
UT: Brazzell 35-yard pass from Aguilar (Max Gilbert kick), 7-0.
UT: Farooq 45 interception return (Gilbert kick), 14-0.
UK: Kendrick Law 71 pass from Boley (Kauwe kick), 14-7.
UT: Thomas 1 run (Gilbert kick), 21-7.
UT: Bishop 1 run (Gilbert kick), 28-7.
UK: D.J. Miller 56 pass from Boley (Kauwe kick), 28-14.
UK: J.J. Hester 3 pass from Boley (Kauwe kick), 28-21.
UT: Davis 13 pass Aguilar (Gilbert kick), 35-21.
UT: Matthews 62 pass from Aguilar (Gilbert kick), 42-21.
UT: Lewis 2 rush (Gilbert kick), 49-21.
UK: Miller 28 pass from Boley (conversion pass failed), 49-27.
UT: Bishop 5 run (Gilbert kick), 56-27.
UK: Hester 7 pass from Boley (Kauwe kick), 56-34.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
Not too long ago, Vol fans would be celebrating the fact that our team is now bowl eligible. Are bowls even relevant?
I suppose our sprinters were faster than theirs in this “track meet.” I was nervous until we passed the three-quarter turn. Defense fixable? I thought one could either tackle or they couldn’t. I thought one couldn’t fix a bad haircut. Any win is a good one from here on out. Kudos to reporters who work the third shift.