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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 44-6 win vs. Kentucky

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy (15) tries to get past the Kentucky defenders during the NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Kentucky on Saturday, October 29, 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn.Utvkentucky1029
Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy (15) tries to get past the Kentucky defenders during the NCAA college football game between Tennessee and Kentucky on Saturday, October 29, 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn.Utvkentucky1029 /
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So much for looking ahead. Tennessee football came out and dominated the Kentucky Wildcats to remain unbeaten and in the thick of the College Football Playoff race. Josh Heupel got the best of Mark Stoops again, winning 44-6, a year after his first team got their signature victory over UK on the road last year.

The Vols, ranked No. 3 in both polls, scored on the opening drive with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Hendon Hooker to Jalin Hyatt. Kentucky, ranked No. 19 in the AP Pol and No. 17 in the Coaches Poll, scored two drives later. That was all they would get. It was all UT the rest of the way.

With the win, UT moves to 8-0 and 4-0 in the SEC. They will visit the Georgia Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in both polls, next week. Kentucky, meanwhile, falls to 5-3 and 2-3 in the SEC with a trip to to the Missouri Tigers next week. Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s fifth win over a ranked team this year.

These are the things we learned from the Tennessee football Volunteers’ victory over the Wildcats.

Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (11) celebrates the touchdown catch with teammate Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy (15) during the NCAA football match between Tennessee and Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.Tennesseevskentucky1029 2323
Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt (11) celebrates the touchdown catch with teammate Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy (15) during the NCAA football match between Tennessee and Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.Tennesseevskentucky1029 2323 /

5. Performance was clean.

Penalties have been a huge concern of the Vols all year. Well, it wasn’t an issue in this game. UT had just six penalties for 50 yards, and while that’s not amazing, it was a huge improvement over what they had been doing. There weren’t nearly as many offensive drives stalled due to formational penalties, and that was a huge deal.

Beyond the penalties, though, the Vols also had no turnovers. Kentucky had three, and that combined with the gap in the way they moved the ball was a huge reason for this blowout. It had as much to do with them crossing the 40-point mark once again as anything.

If Tennessee football keeps this up, then things could get really scary. Josh Heupel is already all about big plays and a high-powered offense, but improving the discipline could go a long way toward making them almost unbeatable. Kentucky forces teams to play ugly as well, so this is a huge deal going forward.

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