Tennessee beat Kentucky in high-leverage moments

Once again, Kentucky and Tennessee entered a contest as very even football teams. For the third time in a row at Kroger Field, the Vols are hitting I-75 south with a one-possession win. In football, little moments are often what separates the winner from the loser.

On Saturday night at Kroger Field, Tennessee won in key high-leverage situations that changed the scoreboard.

Mark Stoops rolls the dice

In the first possession of the game, Devin Leary scrambles for 14 yards on third-and-15 to set up a fourth-and-one at their own 34. Mark Stoops decides to punt. Five plays later, the Vols take a 7-0 lead thanks to a 52-yard Jaylen Wright touchdown run.

Kentucky gets the ball back and immediately faces another fourth-and-one at their own 34 following a failed QB sneak on third down. Stoops decides to roll the dice this time around. That turned out to be the wrong decision.

Liam Coen goes to a shotgun run, and the Tennessee EDGE slips off left guard Dylan Ray and that leads to a run stuff. The Vols would take advantage of the field position and add three points to take a 10-0 lead.

An early first quarter gamble backfires for Kentucky.

Joe Milton III creates off-script

Kentucky got a very bad break on a review when a 17-yard Joe Milton III completion to Ramel Keyton on third-and-six with under 40 seconds left until halftime was not overturned. What appeared to be an incomplete pass was not corrected.

After two completions, Josh Heupel burned a timeout with the ball at the Kentucky 41 with 13 seconds left. As long as the Wildcats did not allow an explosive play they were likely going to get out of the half with their first two-minute defense stop of SEC play.

Milton had other plans. The former Michigan transfer leaves the pocket and finds Squirrel White across the middle after Andru Phillips loses track of the speedy sophomore wide receiver over the middle.

Tennessee would add three points to take a 23-17 lead into halftime. Once again, Kentucky’s defense gave up short in a critical situation. A long month for the secondary continued on Saturday night against the Vols.

Defense fails to get a critical stop

After a missed field goal by Alex Raynor ended Kentucky’s first scoring threat in the fourth quarter, Tennessee got the ball back with 10:57 remaining in the game. Three plays later, a D’Eryk Jackson tackle for loss sets up a second-and-11.

On the next snap, Josh Heupel goes to a shovel pass, and Kentucky’s has it dead to rights, but star defensive tackle Deone Walker surprisingly misses his chance to create a significant havoc play and lets Dylan Sampson slip away.

Instead of a third-and-long and likely regaining possession down two points in the fourth quarter, a missed tackle shows up at a very bad moment. Later in the drive, Milton finds Sampson out of the backfield on third-and-10 for a 17-yard gain. The tailback then all but ends the game with a 12-yard touchdown run one play later.

Kentucky had a key stop well within its grasp and saw the defense’s best player fail to finish a havoc play. The Wildcats kept coming up short in high-leverage spots on Saturday night.