Kentucky falls to Tennessee despite rushing for over 400 yards

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kentucky gained 635 total yards, rushed for 443 yards , reached the red zone five times -- scoring on four of them -- and kept the ball for 35 of the game’s 60 minutes.

And still lost by two touchdowns to Tennessee.

Volunteer quarterback Josh Dobbs continued his career long domination of Kentucky, racking up 370 total yards and five touchdowns. He finishes his Tennessee career with 16 touchdowns against Kentucky. Running back Alvin Kamara rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries in his first action back from injury as Tennessee won 49-36. Tennessee has now beaten Kentucky 31 of the last 32 matchups.

"We didn’t play good enough to win," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. "You have to give credit to Tennessee. They made plays, they were physical, they put us in a lot of space with their run game. Their dual-threat quarterback put a lot of pressure on us. They put a lot to the perimeter and made big plays — explosive runs. It’s hard to win when you do that."

Kentucky forced a three-and-out on Tennessee’s first drive and then quarterback Stephen Johnson kept a read-option for 75 yards on the Cats’ first play from scrimmage to spark the Wildcats offense. Running back Boom Williams scored from 10 yards out on the next play to get Kentucky on the board first.

That set the pace for a spectacular rushing day for Kentucky. 443 total rushing yards was just three shy of a school record. Boom Williams rushed for 127 yards with one touchdown, while Sihiem King, Jojo Kemp and Johnson also rushed for touchdowns. Freshman running back Benny Snell rushed for 90 yards, but had a costly fumble inside the five yard line when the Wildcats were down by 12 in the third quarter that swung momentum totally in Tennessee’s favor.

Snell’s fumble was a microcosm of a larger issue for Kentucky in the red zone. The Wildcats settled for four field goals in the red zone -- one coming after Kentucky was stopped twice inside the three-yard line -- and scored its only touchdown inside the 20 on its first drive.

For as much as Kentucky struggled to punch the ball in, the defense’s inability to get stops when it needed it took any chance away from the Wildcats pulling an upset. All seven of Tennessee’s scoring drives happened in under three minutes as the Vols compiled 586 total yards. The only time Tennessee didn’t answer a Kentucky score was the Wildcats’ last touchdown, which came with 1:41 left in the game.

Kentucky was without star linebacker Jordan Jones after he left the game in the first half with back spasms. Wide receiver Jeff Badet was injured with a hip pointer on a kick return in the first half and never returned.

The loss guarantees that Kentucky will finish its 39th straight season without a winning record in the conference. The Wildcats -- now 5-5 (4-4) -- can reach bowl eligibility with a win over Austin Peay next weekend.