Kentucky falls to Tennessee: 3 things to know and postgame banter

The Kentucky Wildcats were run out of Knoxville on Saturday night by the Tennessee Volunteers. After falling by a score of 34-6, Kentucky moves to 7-2 on the season and 5-2 in conference play.

It was an ugly start for the Cats. That’s not uncommon, but it was uncharacteristically ugly. Turnovers. Penalties. Drive-killers, one after another. Will Stein and Co. were held to zero touchdowns on their first five drives and in the first half for the first time this season. They did make two field goals, but a massive 66-yard touchdown run from Tennessee led to a 10-6 halftime deficit.

The frustrating part is that Kentucky generally played well in the first half. They executed at a high rate, but costly mistakes, negative plays, and an inability to finish drives led to the score at the half.

After the break, it was much of the same until Kentucky completely fell apart. Everybody knows UK’s struggles against UT (more on that below), and after losing 20 straight when trailing at the half, I guess this outcome should have been expected.

Kentucky has won six games when trailing this season, but the slow starts came back to bite them in this one. The comeback just didn’t come. This has been a trend and not necessarily a good one. While it’s fun when you’re winning, the question becomes “why?” when you lose.

Next up, the Cats will return to Lexington to take on former Cat (player and coach) Jon Sumrall and the Florida Gators. There is no room for error going forward. Kentucky must win out to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. New season starts next Saturday.

The Cats beat themselves

Kentucky moved the ball. Kentucky made stops. Kentucky looked like about how they’ve looked through eight games thus far, except for one major difference. They made costly mistakes.

The Cats ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 4 nationally with a +13 turnover margin coming into this game. That got flipped on its head. Jovantae Barnes and Kenny Minchey both coughed it up to the defense, and Minchey also threw his second interception of the season.

In addition to the turnovers, the least penalized team in the conference (No. 17 nationally) committed multiple costly penalties that ended drives. The offense was disappointing overall, but Kentucky moved the ball decently well and seemed to commit penalties at pivotal times.

It’s hard to win on the road in the SEC against a really good team when you make these types of mistakes. Moving the ball is great, but if you can’t finish, it doesn’t matter. I’ll admit that I think the offense was schemed up pretty well, but it just wasn’t executed.

The Cats aren’t the most talented team in the SEC, but this season, they have been disciplined and don’t beat themselves. That just wasn’t the case in this one.

House of Horrors and a Team of Nightmares

It doesn’t matter who’s the coach of either team. It doesn’t matter where they play. It doesn’t matter who the quarterbacks are. The University of Tennessee owns the University of Kentucky.

We like to pretend that this is a rivalry game, but I can’t picture anything being further from reality. You have to beat the other team for it to be considered a rivalry.

The Volunteers lead the all-time series 86-26-9 overall, including 45-11-6 in Knoxville. They’ve won six straight now against the Cats. The Vols have won 39 of 42 games against the Cats since 1985. It’s downright embarrassing.

In a storybook season, it looked like Stein had moved UK past the UK of old, but you might as well chalk this game up as a loss each and every year. The Cats just can’t beat the Vols, at least when they’re good.

Darby and Rodriguez came to play

Here’s a list of the guys who actually came to play today: Kenny Darby, Willie Rodriguez…end of list.

Both sides of the ball were disappointing. The offense was inept. The defense, while put in difficult spots throughout, failed to get the job done against a bad offense. This was Alabama all over again.

However, I have to highlight more than just the bad because it wasn’t ALL bad.

Kenny Darby, Kentucky’s Freshman All-American, had a great game against a tough defense in a raucous environment. For a true freshman to put up the numbers he did, you have to tip your cap. I do have to note, though, that Darby didn’t have a catch after halftime.

And, of course, Mr. Reliable, Willie Rodriguez, carried the offense in this one. Well, as much as he could. He was consistent throughout the entire game whenever Minchey needed him. As bad as the offense was, Rodriguez showed why he’s one of the best tight ends in the country.

Now, let’s discuss the game.