Miscues Sink Kentucky's Defense Against Tennessee

Despite giving up 44 points on Saturday night in Knoxville, Kentucky's defense did just about all it could to try and give its offense a chance to win against No. 3 Tennessee.

The Wildcats were well aware of what the Volunteers were capable of, making Saturday night's blowout even more irritating for Mark Stoops and Co.

"Very aggravating. (Tennessee) puts stress on you, we know that," Stoops said. "It's really hard to sit here and get beat the way we did and sit here and say 'you did some good things,' that's a punchline waiting to happen from (the media.) But there were some good stops, you know what I mean? There really were. You have to play great as a team."

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker had his way with the Kentucky secondary, hurling for 245 yards and three touchdowns. While he continued to play like a Heisman candidate, he was also gifted some of the easiest throws of his career.

The fifth play of the game saw star wide receiver Jalin Hyatt wide open down the right sideline, making for an easy pitch and catch, resulting in a 55-yard touchdown. Hooker and Hyatt would connect on the exact same play once again with less than a minute to go in the first half, in what was essentially an early dagger to the Wildcats.

"A little bit disappointing, it was a route that we worked and we knew was coming...we obviously knew Hyatt was a focal point," defensive coordinator Brad White said. "We should've played better. You can't do that, because we were fighting, making em' work for yards. The two big explosives were something we worked hard on...it hurt because we understand what's coming."

Hyatt finished with five catches for 138 yards and two scores, while WRs Bru McCoy and the returning Cedric Tillman combined for 10 receptions and 76 yards.

While the Vols were clicking offensively, not everything came easy. Kentucky did get pressure on Hooker, sacking him twice while also totaling three tackles-for-loss.

Linebacker DeAndre Square went down with an ankle injury early in the first quarter. He would return and play until the beginning of the second quarter, but would eventually come out for the remainder of the night. Without him and Jacquez Jones, the defense was without its two main leaders.

Senior safety Tyrell Ajian suffered a back injury at the end of the first quarter that caused him to miss most of the night. Sophomore Zion Childress did his best to fill in for the veteran, but alongside redshirt freshman Jordan Lovett, the DB's gave up some plays that were too easy for the Vols.

"There were just a couple of gimmes," White said. “There were things we did well, but not well enough and not consistently enough. Against that offense you gotta be on it. We weren’t.”

The defense was done no favors by the offense, however, as Tennessee's average starting field position was its own 45-yard line. Kentucky had six drives go for three or less plays, making it hard for a defense to fend off fatigue when it has to go right back out on the field after getting beat up possession by possession by a potent offense.

Hooker had just six incompletions on Saturday, and the Wildcats failed to find a turnover on the defensive end.

"We didn't create any short field for the offense, we knew we were gonna have to create some turnovers, we didn't," White said. "I was proud of the guys fight, they fought the entire game, I thought their mentality was right.

Ole Miss transfer Keidron Smith saw the Volunteers a season ago when he was a member of the Rebels, so he too was aware of what the UT offense was capable of. As hard as containing Hyatt, McCoy and Tillman is in the first place, it's even harder when you don't make it difficult for them to make plays.

“We had breakdowns on our defense, but give credit to Tennessee. They took what we gave them and executed,” Smith said.

Kentucky had its keys prepped and ready to go since the bye week. It knew that if you gave Tennessee an inch, it would take a mile in a heartbeat. The Volunteers ran for a marathon's worth of mistakes en route a decimation of its rival inside Neyland Stadium.

System failure for the Cats.

For quick takeaways from the loss to the Volunteers, click here.

More on the loss here.

Hear what Mark Stoops had to say about the loss here.

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