How It Happened: No. 21 Tennessee 33, Kentucky 27

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Joe Milton passed for 227 yards and a touchdown and No. 21 Tennessee rushed for 254 yards and two scores in a 33-27 win over Kentucky Saturday night at Kroger Field.

Here’s how it happened, as it happened as the Vols improved to 6-2 (3-2 SEC):

First Quarter

Tennessee 7, Kentucky 0 (10:47, 1Q): The Vols got a three-and-out to start the game, then the offense went to work, quickly finding the end zone. Jaylen Wright ran a 53 yards for a touchdown to cap a five-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took just 1:48 off the clock.

well that was fast

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— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 28, 2023

Tennessee 10, Kentucky 0 (5:34, 1Q): Kentucky went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 39-yard line, but Tennessee’s defense got the stop. The Vols took over with a short field but a holding penalty on left tackle John Campbell stalled the drive, with Charles Campbell kicking a 44-yard field goal after a six-play, 8-yard drive. 

Second Quarter

Tennessee 10, Kentucky 3 (14:51, 2Q): The Wildcats got on the scoreboard with a 28-yard field gaol from Alex Raynor. The drive went 65 yards over 10 plays, taking 5:43 off the clock. Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary completed passes of 10, 16 and 17 yards on the drive.

Tennessee 13, Kentucky 3 (11:13, 2Q): Campbell connected on his longest field goal of the year, from 49 yards, to cap Tennessee’s third scoring drive. The Vols went 44 yards in 10 plays, taking 3:38. Wright ran for 34 yards on the drive and Dylan Sampson ran for 15 more, but a false start and an illegal snap slowed the Vols down.

Tennessee 13, Kentucky 10 (7:38, 2Q): The Wildcats got in the end zone for the first time on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Leary to wide receiver Barion Brown. The drive covered seven plays and 75 yards, taking 3:38 seconds. The touchdown pass gave Leary 129 yards after completing 10 of 13 passes to start the game.

Tennessee 20, Kentucky 10 (6:16, 2Q): Joe Milton had 26 yards passing for the game before uncorking a 39-yard touchdown to a wide open Chas Nimrod, who benefitted from a Kentucky defensive back falling down on a go route. The drive went 75 yards in five plays, taking just 1:22.

first career TD for @NimrodChas

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— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 29, 2023

Tennessee 20, Kentucky 17 (1:46, 2Q): The Wildcats made it back-to-back touchdown drives when running back Ray Davis scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes left before halftime. The drive went 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:37 and included Leary passes of 10, 17 and 20 yards.

Tennessee 23, Kentucky 17 (0:05, 2Q): Campbell kicked his third field goal of the first half, this one from 34 yards out, to put the Vols up by six just before halftime. The drive went 59 yards in seven plays, including a 17-yard pass from Milton to Ramel Keyton on third-and-6, with Keyton making a toe-tapping catch on the Tennessee sideline, and a 25-yard pass from Milton on the run to Squirrel White to set up the field goal.

Third Quarter

Tennessee 26, Kentucky 17 (6:50, 3Q): The Vols scored the first points of the second half on Campbell’s fourth field goal of the night, this one from 35 yards out. The drive went 49 yards on eight plays, taking 3:40 off the clock, with 47 of the 49 yards coming on a second-and-9 pass from Milton to Dont’e Thornton.

Tennessee 26, Kentucky 24 (2:39, 3Q): Leary threw his second touchdown pass of the night, with a 7-yard scoring connection with Dane Key on third-and-3. It moved Leary to 266 yards and 19 of 25 passing. 

Fourth Quarter

Tennessee 33, Kentucky 24 (7:30, 4Q): Tennessee badly needed a touchdown drive. Dylan Sampson delivered. The sophomore running back scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to get the lead back to two possessions at nine points.

Tennessee 33, Kentucky 27 (4:16, 4Q): The Vols kept Kentucky out of the end zone on the following drive, forcing the Wildcats to settle for a 28-yard field goal to get the deficit to six with just over four minutes left.