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Tennessee football report card in 34-7 Kentucky loss

By Caleb Calhoun

The Vols tackle a Kentucky player in the first quarter of a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.
The Vols tackle a Kentucky player in the first quarter of a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. /
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Oct 17, 2020; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee tight end Hunter Salmon (89) defends during a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.Mandatory Credit: Calvin Mattheis-USA TODAY NETWORK
Oct 17, 2020; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee tight end Hunter Salmon (89) defends during a game between Tennessee and Kentucky at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020.Mandatory Credit: Calvin Mattheis-USA TODAY NETWORK /

These are the Tennessee football Volunteers grades against the Wildcats.

Did anybody get a good grade in this one? Tennessee football failed across the board against the Kentucky Wildcats, from offensive mistakes in the first half to horrible defense in the second half to coaching mistakes across the board.

There’s very little you can give on a positive note to a team that lost 34-7 at home to Kentucky. It’s not that Kentucky is a horrible team, but the Vols should have been better. This isn’t the Alabama Crimson Tide or the Georgia Bulldogs they are facing.

Was Tennessee football not prepared? Were there just a couple of key mistakes that caused everything to unravel? Did parts of the team just quit? Honestly, looking at the tape, it appears a little bit of all of that is true, and that’s problematic.

As we get set to dish out our report card for the Vols in their loss to Kentucky, we can say up front that these will be the worst grades we have given out in over a year. They may even be worse than the grades Rocky Top had in its early-season losses last year. This game was that bad.

Funny enough, though, not every unit gets horrible marks. There were a couple that stood out for actually having solid performances, although one was largely insignificant, and the other one was largely under-utilized. Either way, most received dismal grades.

Just like we usually do, we’ll separate our report card by offense, defense, special teams and coaching. The position groups for each of those units will receive grades, and then those units as a whole will receive a grade.

How bad was it for these groups? Which one avoids the wrath of our brutal analysis that is coming? Let’s go ahead and break all of that down here. This is our report card for Tennessee football in the Vols’ 34-7 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.

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