Well, that was (mostly) fun to watch for fans of the Tennessee Volunteers and for college football fans who like to see points scored. The Vols rolled up the Wildcats 56-34 on Saturday night in Lexington.
Joey Aguilar was phenomenal, going 20/26 for 396 yards with 3 touchdowns. Star Thomas led all ball carriers with 64 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown. The Vols had THREE receivers eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark, with Chris Brazzell II leading the way with 4 catches for 138 yards and a score.
Man, if I wrote every drive for this game, I’d be here until 4 am. So, let’s wrap up the big plays, of which there were more than plenty. Tennessee wasted no time, going up 7-0 just 4 plays in when Brazzell took it 35 yards to the house.
Speaking of taking it to the house, later in the first quarter, Edrees Farooq had one of the plays of the year when he leapt in the air, batted a pass high, caught it, and raced to the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
That wouldn’t be the only wild and wacky play of the half by the defense. A very strange moment came at the end of the first quarter with UT up 21-7. I don’t have the words, so I’ll just leave this right here. One of the more bizarre plays I’ve seen in my decades of watching football.
Tennessee got the ball inside the one, and Bishop bowled over the goal line on 4th and goal for a 28-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Tennessee’s defense, meanwhile, had plenty of problems on Saturday night, and most of them came in the first half. The defense allowed long passing touchdowns of 71 and 56 yards to keep the game within shouting distance for much of the half. Kentucky also put together a 16-play, 96-yard drive for a score as well. As a result, the game was close at 28-21 in the half’s final minutes.
But Tennessee took control again right before the half, going 75 yards in 10 plays to go up 35-21 with just 5 seconds left in the half. Ethan Davis caught his first touchdown of the season from 13 yards out in the back of the end zone, and Tennessee grabbed momentum again going into the locker room.
Tennessee stretched their lead out quickly in the second half. After forcing a punt, Aguilar uncorked an absolute nuke to Mike Matthews that traveled almost the full 62 yards in the air for a 42-21 lead very early in the third quarter. After a Kentucky missed field goal, Brazzell pulled in a 50-yard bomb down the sideline to spark another scoring drive and a commanding 49-21 lead.
Kentucky drew back to within 49-27 at the end of the third quarter, but a 56-yard completion to Braylon Staley set up a final scoring drive – a 7-yard Bishop run – that squelched out any remaining tiny sliver of hope for the Wildcats.
Tennessee improves to 6-2 (3-2) with the win. Up next is Oklahoma next Saturday in Knoxville.
