JEFF DRUMMOND:

Short yardage has been the bugaboo for the Cats almost all season long, and it reared its ugly head again tonight in the latest shoulda-coulda-woulda loss to the Vols. Kentucky failed on fourth down three times in Tennessee territory in the second half with the final drive ending on fourth-and-goal at the 1. For whatever reason, a really good UK running offense has not been able to solve that mystery, and it cost the Cats an important game that could loom large in their bowl hopes. It's REALLY hard to lose a game when you run 71 plays to 46 for the opponent, possess the ball for 41:37, and rush for 302 yards, but UK found a way to do it tonight. It's the second time in four years that the Cats have rushed for 300-plus yards and lost a game to Tennessee. Mind-boggling.

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

This game does not lend itself to easy analysis. On the one hand, Tennessee had a clear talent advantage at a couple of spots on the field, like the receiver/cornerback matchup, and that was pretty decisive. Couple that with UK's total lack of a passing game and that made the odds steep. On the other hand, UK controlled the ball for two-thirds of the game, rushed for 300 yards, avoided three-and-outs for the most part, and held UT to 17 points. The best I can say is UK had its chance, and Tennessee made a great series of plays at the goal line. It's another gut punch in a long series of gut punches from the Volunteers but UK has to bounce back quickly to avoid letting this turn into two losses.

TRAVIS GRAF:

All of Kentucky’s momentum was lost when the Cats got complacent and settled for only 13 points in the first half. That being said, Kentucky held possession for almost 42 minutes and ran 25 more plays than the Volunteers. Kentucky did some really good things on the ground, but an inability to pass caught up with it tonight. For Kentucky to have the best chance to win moving forward, Kavosiey Smoke and Chris Rodriguez need to shoulder the lion’s share of carries. Kentucky was only a yard short of winning this game, but the box score is also kind of misleading. Tennessee gave Kentucky every break they could possibly need to win the game, but the Cats just couldn’t take advantage.