Tennessee football handled business and dominated Kentucky on Saturday night, cruising to a 56-34 win, largely thanks to Joey Aguilar and the Vols offense.
another successful visit to Lexington. pic.twitter.com/EHsilDABbi
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 26, 2025
The Vols’ defense, however, struggled again in yet another poor display in conference play, allowing 476 total yards and 34 points.
While Tennessee is a long shot to make the CFP right now with a 6-2 record, with some help and ranked wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, the Vols could have an outside shot at sneaking in with a 10-2 record.
That hope, in itself, is a long shot at this point, with the Vols' secondary continuing to struggle in conference play.
Tennessee has yet to limit an SEC offense to less than 30 points, and the secondary continues to get tormented by opposing quarterbacks.
Freshman quarterback Cutter Boley had the best game of his career on Saturday, throwing for 330 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.
That probably would have been good enough to win any other game on the schedule, including the four other SEC losses, but luckily, Tennessee’s offense did whatever it wanted against the Kentucky defense.
Tennessee improves to 6-2 on the year and still has life in the College Football Playoff conversation, although they are going to need some help around college football to sneak into the 12-team CFP.
The Vols are currently ranked No. 17, so wins over ranked Oklahoma and a top-ten Vanderbilt team could sneak them in at No. 11 or No. 12.
While it's unlikely Tennessee makes the CFP in its current state, with losses against Georgia and Alabama, it will give itself a shot if it wins out, opening the door for Josh Heupel and the Vols to take another shot at a CFP run.
That could change, though, if Tennessee’s defense continues to struggle against SEC offenses. The Vols have three conference games left on the schedule, and another poor defensive performance could lead to a loss in any of them.
The Vols' secondary has allowed the tenth-most passing yards this season, giving up 2,130 points in the air, averaging 266.3 yards per game. That’s the worst in the SEC, leading to allowing the second-most points in the SEC with 247 points allowed and 30.9 points per game.
Tennessee will face John Mateer, DJ Lagway, and Diego Pavia in their final three SEC games, and all three of those quarterbacks are better than Boley, which could be concerning for Tennessee's secondary.
Defensive coordinator Tim Banks has a lot to clean up before the final four games of the season if the Vols want to reach their potential with the offense putting up big numbers with Aguilar running the show.