Boley's career night not enough to save Cats from another Tennessee beating
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s best passing game in a generation ultimately meant nothing due to facing its biggest nemesis on Saturday at Kroger Field.
Tennessee made scoring touchdowns look routine, rolling to a 56-34 blowout despite a career-high 330 yards and five touchdown passes thrown by the Wildcats’ Cutter Boley.
The No. 17 Volunteers (6-2, 3-2 SEC) amassed 504 yards of total offense and got a superb passing performance from their quarterback as well. Joey Aguilar completed 20 of 26 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns against a helpless UK defense.
“He’s calm. He does have a really good touch,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said of Aguilar. “He trusts his wide receivers; pass protections have been really good, too.”
Tennessee scored touchdowns on seven of its 11 possessions on the night and would have likely had an eighth but elected to slide instead of scoring and kneeled out the final two minutes inside the UK 10-yard line. The Vols’ longest scoring drive took 2:19. Five took less than two minutes.
Big plays were the catalyst. Tennessee racked up 293 of those passing yards on seven plays alone. Three receivers had catches longer than 50 yards for the Vols as Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley, and Chris Brazzell II combined for an eye-popping 350 yards on 16 receptions.
“A very difficult loss, very tough loss,” Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. “They really took it to us. We didn’t have a lot of answers. Tough matchup for us right now. Give them credit. They are extremely explosive.
“We simply did not cover them today.”
After falling behind 28-7 early in the second quarter, the Cats battled back within one score on a Boley touchdown pass to JJ Hester with 1:37 left in the half, but the defense allowed Tennessee to drive 75 yards in only 92 seconds to push its lead back to 35-21 at the break.
That was the start of 21 unanswered points for the Vols to put UK in a hole it could not overcome.
Tennessee extended its win streak over UK to five games.
Kentucky (2-5, 0-5 SEC) lost their 10th straight league game. It also marked the Cats’ 10th straight conference loss on their home field.
“I understand it’s a results business, and the results have not been there,” Stoops said. “… I’m frustrated. I hurt for our team. I hurt for our fans. There’s a lot of people who invest a lot, including all of us. I understand that. The fans and everyone else have the right to be frustrated, mad, anything else.”
The Cats finished with 476 yards of total offense after posting 395 last week against Texas.
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In our “Rapid Recap” feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss…
GAME BALL:
Joey Aguilar, Tennessee — The Vols’ transfer portal quarterback had a huge night throwing the ball, completing 20 of 26 passes (77%) for 396 yards and three touchdowns. He was particularly impressive on the deep balls, hitting three for 62, 56, and 50 yards to three different targets.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st – Time that Kentucky has scored three or more touchdowns in an SEC game under offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan.
2nd – FBS quarterback (Cutter Boley) to throw for at least 330 yards, five touchdowns, and complete 74% of his passes against an AP Top 25 team in the last 30 years. The other was CJ Stroud of Ohio State, twice, in the 2021 season.
5 – Touchdown passes by Cutter Boley were the most by a UK quarterback since Andre Woodson threw six against Tennesee on Nov. 24th, 2007.
19.8 – Average yards per pass completion by the Volunteers.
90 – The most combined points in a Kentucky SEC home game since Nov. 8, 2014, against Georiga (94).
120 – Yards receiving by UK freshman wideout DJ Miller, who also caught two touchdown passes. Both were career-highs.
980 – Combined total yards by the Cats and Vols.
QUOTABLE:
“Who knows what his ceiling is? He’s only a redshirt freshman… and he’s been pretty impressive against some good defenses,” UK head coach Mark Stoops on quarterback Cutter Boley.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action next week at Auburn. The Tigers (4-4, 1-4 SEC) won 33-24 on Saturday at Arkansas. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.