QUICK TAKES: Tennessee 56, Kentucky 34

In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky’s 56-34 loss to No. 17 Tennessee on Saturday night at Kroger Field…

JEFF DRUMMOND:

One of the biggest unflattering traits of Kentucky football is that the Wildcats rarely find a way to play complementary football. Last week against Texas, the defense was sensational, but the offense and special teams were awful in critical situations, leading to a 16-13 overtime loss. Tonight, the offense had its best day in years, and the defense was a complete and utter no-show. We knew Tennessee was going to be a challenge tonight. The Volunteers have the No. 2 scoring offense in the FBS. But it wasn’t just the fact that UT was scoring a lot, it was the ease with which it did so. The Vols had three different players record a catch of longer than 50 yards. Tennessee had 293 passing yards on just seven plays. That’s as absurd a stat as I’ve seen in more than 30 years of covering UK Football. It’s nice to see Cutter Boley take another huge step in his development, throwing for 330 yards and five touchdowns, but it’s just a crying shame that it had to come in a game that reminded you of where this program was 25 or 30 years ago.