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

3. Balance was the story on offense.

Hendon Hooker still got his big play with that touchdown pass to Jalin Hyatt, but Kentucky was always going to force Tennessee football to move the ball more in this game than other games. Josh Heupel and the Vols answered that challenge, delivering in a huge way.

While Hooker was 19-of-25 for 245 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, the Vols ran the ball just as effectively. They finished with 40 carried for 177 yards. Hooker himself had 23 yards and a score. Jaylen Wright ran it seven times for 73 yards and a score, Jabari Small had 21 carries for 78 yards, and Princeton Fant had a two-yard touchdown run.

What really stands out, though, is the play-count. The Vols’ second touchdown drive was a 15-play drive. Heupel usually doesn’t do that. His offense is so tempo-focused that they usually score within six plays or less. However, even on their third touchdown drive, they went eight plays.

It was crucial for them to be able to show that they could handle such scoring drives, as Georgia will more than likely force quite a few of those on them next week. This was a good test for them ahead of that matchup. Big plays still came, but long drives still worked, even if Kentucky still won time of possession by over 10 minutes.