Kentucky wastes elite offensive performance, drops another to Tennessee

Kentucky might have just had their best offensive performance of the Mark Stoops era. Yet, the Wildcats found a way to lose to Tennessee.

Despite running 99 plays, collecting 612 yards of offense, and never punting, the Wildcats lost their first one-possession game of the season. Haymakers by the Vols proved too much to overcome at the end of the night.

Live from the Kroger Field press box, KSR has instant takeaways. However, this is going to be a tough pill to swallow.

Tennessee bludgeons Kentucky with explosive plays

Josh Heupel has a reputation as an offensive play-caller, and it is all driven by creating explosive plays. The Vols are a run-first operation, but Heupel’s version of the Art Briles spread excels at creating space and landing deep shots.

However, Kentucky entered the game as one of the best big-play defenses in college football. That did not hold up on Saturday night.

The Vols scored on completions of 75 and 72 yards on their first two possessions. There was later a touchdown run of 37 yards. The Vols only had 47 plays on offense, but seven of them went for over 20 yards. Meanwhile, Kentucky had just five plays of 20-plus yards in 99 snaps.

Meanwhile, Tennessee also scored on a pick-six in the third quarter.

Kentucky had dominant parts on Saturday, but the explosives from Tennessee allowed the Vols to steal another close victory over Kentucky.

Middle Eight matters

The last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter often swing games. Known as the middle eight, games can be won or lost with what is done at the end of the first half when the game shrinks.

Kentucky went for a knockout blow, but Tennessee was the team to land the big shot.

After scoring a touchdown to go up 21-14 with 3:57 remaining until the break, Tennessee got the ball back with a big return and horsecollar penalty to start their possession on Kentucky’s side of the field.

After gaining 14 yards on third and long, Tennessee had a fourth-and-four at the Kentucky 36 with time running out in the second half. A pass interference call on Vito Tisdale extended a drive, and the Vols would score a couple of plays later.

Dealing with a draw at that point, Mark Stoops got aggressive and tried to add some more points before the half. However, three consecutive incompletions turned into a turnover on downs, and the Vols got the ball with great field position at their own 39.

Two completions later, Tennessee added a field goal to take a halftime lead and a win in the middle eight.

Kentucky got aggressive, and it ended up costing the Wildcats after the scoreboard was 45-42 at the final buzzer.

Field position mismatch

Tennessee had its way with Kentucky for most of the night. The Vols averaged nearly 10 yards per play and scored points in six of their 10 possessions. Kentucky forced just one punt, but it was the plays on the other end that turned the game.

Thanks to some turnover on downs and solid kick returns, Tennessee had three possessions that started just shy of midfield. The Vols would go on to score touchdowns on all three of those possessions.

For the game, the Vols won the field position battle by eight yards with an average starting field position of their own 36. Meanwhile, 9 of 11 possessions for Kentucky started inside their own 30.

In a game with razor-thin margins, Tennesee’s field position edge was one of the biggest storylines of the night.

Growth from Will Levis

There will be plenty of bad to take from another loss to Tennessee, but Kentucky’s redshirt junior quarterback took a major step forward on Saturday night.

The Penn State transfer passed for a career-high 372 yards, accounted for five touchdowns, and 72 non-sack rushing yards. Levis even had a reception on a nifty gadget play called by Liam Coen.

After a very bad performance against Mississippi State, Levis answered the bell on Saturday. The quarterback had a 51.02 percent passing success rate on 49 throws and a 66.67 percent rushing success rate on 12 non-sack carries. However, there is still room for improvement.

Levis took three sacks at a very bad time, had four consecutive incompletions after a huge fourth-down conversion, and his only interception was a total backbreaker. However, the good outshined the bad against Tennessee.

Kentucky has major secondary issues

There is no other way to spin it right now. Kentucky has big problems in the secondary.

The defensive backs were picked on all night by Tennessee and have not collected an interception against an FBS foe this season. Kentucky got one pass breakup from Quandre Mosely, but even the safeties had a bunch of issues.

Tyrell Ajian missed a tackle on the first play of the game leading to a 75-yard touchdown. Yusuf Corker jumped on a post route leaving DeAndre Square one-on-one with a receiver on a vertical sideline shot. Outside of Vito Tisdale, no other player made a significant play in the game.

All of this is going on with a bunch of seniors in the lineup. However, it’s clear that some of the young players are not ready to really contribute at either position.

Kentucky just added a wide receiver from the transfer portal, but the Wildcats have secondary needs that likely need to be addressed this offseason.