Paul Finebaum: Tennessee saved their season with win over Kentucky

It was a close call, but Tennessee saved its season with the win over Kentucky, according to ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

The Volunteers edged the Wildcats 33-27 on the road to improve to 6-2. While they need help to make the SEC Championship, the New Year’s Six Bowl hopes are alive.

Finebaum said a loss to Kentycky could’ve practically been a disaster.

“Well, what they did was save their season against Kentucky though because that was a game that they could have lost,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “They were staring at 7-5 or 8-4. Now that they’ve got two games that are the Georgia game, they’ll be an underdog, and the Missouri game, they’ll be an underdog.”

Joe Milton finished the game 18-of-21 passing for 228 yards and one touchdown. He added 26 yards on the ground in an efficient game.

Jaylen Wright had himself a game though. He ran 11 times for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Following the game, head coach Josh Heupel spoke about the offensive performance, specifically the run game. It was another great night for the group, carrying the team at times.

“Deep room,” Heupel said about his running back room. “Got some young guys that are really good. They’re smart, competitive, they run really hard. They’re doing a great job of reading what’s going on upfront. Five bigs were great tonight, tight ends were awesome. And the passing game was good enough. It was a great win.”

Heupel then gave a broader analysis of his team, once again mentioning how tough winning on the road in the SEC is.

“I love the effort and energy we played with,” Heupel said during his postgame interview with ESPN. “At the end of the day, winning on the road in this league is really tough. That’s a good football team we played tonight. Proud of the effort from our guys. We got to play smarter as we continue to go. Got to be better in the red zone offensively. We take it as a good win in the league.”

With the win on Saturday night, Tennessee keeps their SEC loss total at two. Of course, the goal was to make the SEC Championship in Atlanta, and technically, the dream is still alive. There are still a few big games remaining on the schedule, mainly Georgia in the penultimate week of the regular season.