Tennessee overcomes early 13-point deficit, makes late goal-line stand to hand Kentucky bitter 17-13 loss at Kroger Field. Cats drop to 4-5 on the season with three games remaining on the schedule and bowl eligibility still in doubt.
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky's inability to convert short-yardage situations has dogged the Wildcats time and time again this season.
On Saturday night at Kroger Field, it cost UK a crucial game.
Tennessee made a goal-line stand with under two minutes remaining to preserve a 17-13 win over the Wildcats. The Volunteers stuffed UK running back Chris Rodriguez on third-and-goal from the 1 and denied UK quarterback Lynn Bowden Jr. on a fourth-down keeper to seal a come-from-behind victory.
"We did miss some short-yardage plays today, certainly the one at the end there," UK head coach Mark Stoops said. "... I thought Lynn played a really good play. I'll never argue with Lynn taking it right there, and he stretched it to the perimeter. We'll probably look at it and feel like if he would have pitched (to Rodriguez on the option) it would have been a foot race to the pylon and probably had a chance. But I'm not going to argue with that kid and the way he has a chance to pull the ball down and try to drive it in there and get the one yard.
"Credit (Tennessee) for a nice stop."
Kentucky (4-5, 2-5 SEC) led 13-0 in the first quarter but failed to score the rest of the night. The Cats lost despite rushing for 302 yards, running 25 more plays than the Vols, and possessing the football for 41:37.
Bowden rushed for 114 yards on 26 carries. Rodriguez followed with 81 yards, while Kavosiey Smoke and A.J. Rose added 58 and 44, respectively. Smoke and Rose scored first-quarter touchdowns to stake the Cats to an early lead.
But Kentucky, playing its fourth straight game with Bowden at quarterback, showed no ability to move the ball through the air. The Cats finished with only 25 yards passing on seven attempts.
Tennessee (5-5, 3-3 SEC) got 115 yards passing and two touchdowns from Jarrett Guarnatano, who came off the Vols' bench to spark the comeback effort. Marquez Calloway and Josh Palmer caught touchdown passes, and Brent Cimaglia kicked a 26-yard field goal to give UT just enough offense to win on a night when it was outgained 327-296.
"This is an extremely difficult loss for our team," Stoops said. "I really appreciate our team's effort and their attitude and their preparation and their fight. A very good football game. Two teams playing extremely hard, very hungry for a victory, and it comes down to a goal-line stand... It's a very, very difficult pill to swallow."
Said UK defensive tackle Calvin Taylor: "Super tough. We don't do moral victories, so it's just a tough one."
"We just have to keep our heads up," Rodriquez said. "On to the next game because we have another game next week. We can't stay down because there's another game."
Kentucky travels to Vanderbilt next week for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on the SEC Network. The Commodores (2-7, 1-5 SEC) lost 56-0 to Florida on Saturday in Gainesville.
