SEC football final: Tennessee 45, Kentucky 42
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Game day: Tennessee 45, No. 18 Kentucky 42
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s Kentucky-Tennessee football game at Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky.
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The 18th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Kroger Field for an SEC college football rivalry on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT. The SEC Network has the telecast. Check here for score updates, statistics and a dedicated Twitter feed.
You can interact with me on Twitter at @johnclayiv throughout the game.
Final score: Tennessee 45, Kentucky 42
Scoring summary
Tennessee 7, Kentucky 0 - On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker throws a quick pass to left sideline that JaVonta Payton takes 75 yards for a touchdown. Just 11 seconds have elapsed.
Kentucky 7, Tennessee 7 - UK comes right back to march 75 yards in 14 plays to tie the game at 7-7. Kavosiey Smoke scores on a nine-yard run with 6:13 left in the first quarter.
Tennessee 14, Kentucky 7 - The Vols hit the big play once again. Velus Jones grabs a pass down left sideline from Hooker and goes 72 yards for the touchdown with 5:47 left in the first quarter. Vols have now scored on completions of 75 and 72 yards.
Tennessee 14, Kentucky 14 - Will Levis scores on an eight-yard run on which he leapt end in the end zone with 10:23 left in the first half. The score came after UK receiver Chauncey Magwood threw a 15-yard pass to Levis. Before that, Levis hit Wan’Dale Robinson on a 31-yard gain. And the drive was set up by UK linebacker Jacquez Jones recovering a Tennessee fumble.
Kentucky 21, Tennessee 14 - After several of his runs moved UK down the field, Levis hit tight end Justin Rigg with a three-yard touchdown pass to put the Cats ahead with 3:57 left in the first half.
Kentucky 21, Tennesee 21 - Vols come right back down the field and Hooker throws his third touchdown pass of the night. This one goes to tight end Jacob Warren for an 18-yard score with 1:14 left in the half. A pass interference penalty on UK’s Vito Tisdale on a fourth-and-four kept the drive alive.
Tennessee 24, Kentucky 21 - After stopping UK on a fourth-and-four at UT’s 39-yard line with 32 seconds left, the Vols move the ball down the field. Chase McGrath ends the first half with a 43-yard field goal to give the visitors the lead at the intermission.
Kentucky 28, Tennessee 24 - Cats take the second half kickoff and drive 75 yards to re-take the lead. Levis scores on a two-yard run with 9:56 left in the third quarter.
Tennessee 31, Kentucky 28 - It takes Vols all of 45 seconds to go back in front. An angled kickoff didn’t work as UT returned it 33 yards to start drive at UK 49. Three plays later, Jabari Small scored on a 37-yard run with 9:11 left in the third quarter.
Tennessee 38, Kentucky 28 - Alontae Taylor picks off Levis and takes it 56 yards for a touchdown with 6:23 left in the third quarter.
Tennessee 38, Kentucky 35 - After throwing the pick six, Levis takes UK right back down the field and hits Robinson for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:20 left in the third quarter to pull Cats within three.
Tennessee 45, Kentucky 35 - Three plays after stopping Kentucky on downs, the Vols score on a six-yard pass from Hooker to Cedric Tillman with 11:40 left.
Tennessee 45, Kentucky 42 - Levis finds Izayah Cummings with a 24-yard touchdown pass with 9:36 left.
Pregame information
Date: Nov. 6, 2021.
Kickoff: 7 p.m. EDT
TV: Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison and Dawn Davenport on ESPN2.
Radio: UK Network with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro and Dick Gabriel.
Records: Kentucky 6-2; Tennessee 4-4.
SEC records: Kentucky 4-2; Tennessee 2-3.
Team websites: Kentucky football; Tennessee football
Last game: Kentucky lost 31-17 to Mississippi State in Starkville on Oct. 30. Tennessee was off last week. The Vols last played on Oct. 23, when they lost 52-24 at Alabama.
Coaches: Kentucky-Mark Stoops (55-52); Tennessee-Josh Heupel (32-12 overall; 4-4 at Tennessee)
Series: Tennessee leads 81-26-9.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 34-7 in Knoxville on Oct. 17, 2020.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
