The Tennessee Volunteers didn’t play their best football on Saturday, night, but it was still good enough to get past the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night 28-18 in Neyland Stadium.
The Vols were led by Nico Iamaleava, who was 28/38 passing for 292 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Sampson shook off a first-half fumble to total 142 rushing yards on 27 carries with 2 scores. TE Miles Kitselman led the Vols with 6 catches for 97 yards with a touchdown.
For the fourth straight game and third straight at home, it was a brutally slow first half for the Vols’ offense. Trailing 7-0 after a Josh Kattus 27-yard touchdown, the Vols were off on the offensive side of the ball. Missed field goals, dropped passes, and an ill-timed Sampson fumble were factors in an offense that simply couldn’t get going in the first half. After a Peyton Lewis touchdown in the second quarter finally got the Vols on the board, Kentucky took the lead into the locker room after a 32-yard field goal late in the half reestablished the lead for Kentucky.
Much like they’ve done the last month, the Vols flipped a switch after coming back from the locker room, outscoring Kentucky 21-8 in the second half. A sack-fumble set UT up in field goal range, but Josh Heupel stamped US Mail on Sampson, who reached the end zone after three straight runs covering 17 yards to take the lead for good at 14-10.
Later in the quarter, Will Brooks notched his third interception of the season, returning it 65 yards to set the Vols up in goal to go. Nico rolled out and found Kitselman on a nifty pass in the back of the end zone for a 21-10 lead.
However, Kentucky put the Tennessee fans back on a nervous edge in the fourth quarter behind backup QB Gavin Wimsatt, who drove the Wildcats 75 yards in six plays to draw within 21-18.
Fortunately for the Vols, they managed to deliver the dagger two drives later, going 91 yards in 13 plays to salt the game away. And how they did it. On first and goal from the 6 with under 5 minutes left, Sampson took a handoff and appeared to have just a yard. However, he continued to drive forward every so slowly, and his teammates got together to push him harder. Finally a mass of players, including Sampson, slowly bowled their way into the end zone for a 28-18 lead that would serve as the final score.
The run also put Dylan Sampson in the record books alone as the Vols’ all-time rushing touchdown leader for a single season with 19, surpassing Gene McEver’s mark from 1929.
Tennessee gets Mississippi State next Saturday night in Neyland Stadium as they look to keep the good times rolling at home under Josh Heupel.
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