Seventh-ranked Tennessee outscored visiting Kentucky by 17 points over the final 35 minutes Saturday night at a sold-out Neyland Stadium, treating the 101,915 fans in attendance to a 28-18 triumph.
The seventh-ranked Volunteers (7-1, 4-1 SEC) scored 21 of the game's 29 second-half points, en route to defeating the Wildcats (3-6, 1-6 SEC) for the fourth time in as many tries under head coach Josh Heupel.
A staunch Tennessee forced three turnovers, two of which led to second-half touchdowns, helping the team post a second-half comeback victory for the third consecutive outing.
Junior running back Dylan Sampson totaled a career-high-tying 27 carries for a career-best 142 yards, as well as notched a pair of rushing touchdowns to give him a school-record 19 this season. Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava went 28-of-38 through the air, setting career highs in attempts and completions. He threw for 292 yards, his second-most as a collegian, and one touchdown.
On the opening drive, the Tennessee defense came up with a fourth-down stop at its own five-yard-line to keep the Wildcats off the board. However, following a missed 43-yard field goal, the Volunteers allowed a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, culminating with a 27-yard pass from Brock Vandagriff to Josh Kattus with 5:28 on the timer.
Neither team scored the remainder of the session, as the teams flipped sides with the Wildcats holding a 7-0 lead. Tennessee did, however, make another big defensive play late in the frame, as defensive back Andre Turrentine, with 1:28 to go, caught a deflected pass for his first interception of the season and the first of his career against an SEC foe.
The Volunteers, on their fourth trip inside the 25-yard-line, leveled the score with 4:45 left in the opening half. Running back Peyton Lewis hit paydirt for the first time as a collegian, finishing a 14-play, 65-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown carry. The Wildcats responded with a 10-play, 61-yard drive to regain the advantage, doing so on a 32-yard field goal by Alex Raynor with 30 seconds left in the half.
Despite the narrow deficit, Tennessee outgained Kentucky, 254-196, in the opening 30 minutes and held the visitors to a 2-of-7 mark on third down, plus stopped the Wildcat's lone fourth-down attempt.
The Tennessee defense made another game-changing play on its first series of the second half, as defensive lineman Joshua Josephs drilled Vandagriff to force a fumble, which linebacker Jeremiah Telander recovered at the Kentucky 28-yard-line with 10:05 to go in the third quarter. The turnover led to a five-play scoring drive that took just 97 seconds and ended with a seven-yard rushing touchdown by Sampson. For the junior from Baton Rouge, La., the score made him the first Volunteer ever to score a rushing touchdown in eight straight games in a single campaign.
Defensive back Will Brooks tallied Tennessee's third takeaway of the contest late in the third quarter, this one with the Wildcats at the Vols' 24-yard-line. The redshirt senior jumped Gavin Wimsatt's first pass of the game and returned it 67 yards to the Kentucky 10-yard-line with just 1:01 to go before the final session. Two plays and 28 seconds later, tight end Miles Kitselman caught a six-yard strike from Iamaleava to put Tennessee ahead, 21-10.
Kentucky countered with a six-play, 75-yard drive in just 2:02, with Ja'Mori Maclin catching a 32-yard pass from Wimsatt to end it. The Wildcats then converted a two-point conversion to pull within three, 21-18, with 13:31 remaining.
After punts by each team, Tennessee used a 13-play, 91-yard drive to go back up by double digits, 28-18, with 4:55 to play. The drive ended with a six-yard carry by Sampson, his 19th rushing touchdown of 2024, breaking the single-season school record of 18 set by Gene McEver in 1929. It also moved him into a tie with Joshua Dobbs (2013-16) for third on the career leaderboard with 32.
The Volunteers forced a turnover on downs on Kentucky's next drive, effectively icing the game with 2:19 to go. Linebackers Arion Carter (10) and Jalen Smith (nine) each set career highs in tackles to pace a Tennessee defense that amassed seven quarterback hurries and allowed just 11 points in the final 50 minutes.
Additionally, the Vols held Kentucky to just 14-of-27 passing for 192 yards, while registering a pair of interceptions. The Wildcats finished 4-of-14 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down.
Offensively, nine Tennessee players caught a pass in the game, with seven logging multiple grabs. Kitselman, who had the lone receiving score, led the team with six catches for 97 yards, both career highs.
The Vols, who improved to 5-1 all-time in black uniforms, racked up 476 total yards, 292 through the air and 184 on the ground, their highest total in SEC play this season and fourth time eclipsing 450 in 2024. They had 29 first downs and conceded only 19.
UP NEXT
Tennessee is back in action Nov. 9 against Mississippi State at 7 p.m. for its SEC home finale and its last of four straight games at Neyland Stadium. The contest will be televised on ESPN.