Tennessee flipped a switch on Saturday night.
The Vols got things going and scored 21 out of 29 second-half points to take a 28-18 victory over Kentucky in Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee improved to 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in SEC action.
“I felt like we practiced really well,” Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel said. “We are continuing to gain and we just have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and go play our best football. It’s never going to be perfect either, but we are excited about the win. There’s a lot of things that we can improve upon.”
It was a record-breaking day for Dylan Sampson as the junior set a new school record for the most touchdowns in a single season with 19 so far this year. Sampson finished with two touchdowns and had 142 yards on 27 carries.
Sampson opened the second half scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run that put Tennessee up 17-14 to tie the program record previously previously held by Gene McEver and was set in 1929.
The running back claimed the record with just under five minutes to play on a six-yard run that extended the Volunteer lead back to double-digits.
“Dylan Sampson has the whole record, and I think that’s a pretty special one,” Heupel said. “But, I said it in the locker room, we recognize some guys for big plays and turnovers on defense. Running backs don’t get to do that unless they got 10 other guys doing their job too, so credit to everybody starting with the five guys up front and the tight ends, perimeter blocking and the quarterback too. Dylan Sampson would be the first guy to say that too. (At the) end of the day, it was a special moment for him and some of the guys. A lot left out there for us too.”
Nico Iamaleava threw for 292 yards and went 28-of-38 passing with a touchdown. Miles Kitselman had 97 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Bru McCoy had five catches for 56 yards.
Tennessee’s defense continued its impressive season as the Volunteers forced three turnovers as Andre Turrentine had an interception in the first half, while Jeremiah Telander recovered a Kentucky strip-sack and Will Brooks intercepted a Wildcat pass in the second half – each of the second-half turnovers leading to points.
The Volunteer defense has held its opponent under 20 points in nine straight games.
Kentucky took the lead in the first quarter as Josh Kattus caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brock Vandagriff just past the midpoint of the first quarter.
The Wildcats led 7-0 after a quarter of play.
Tennessee evened things up with just over four minutes to play in the second quarter as Peyton Lewis scored on a short run to record his first collegiate touchdown. The Wildcats, however, responded with a drive that ended with a 32-yard field goal by Alex Raynor to take a 10-7 lead into the half.
The Tennessee defense helped turn the tide in the second half.
On Kentucky’s first series, Joshua Josephs forced a strip sack that was recovered by Telander to give the Tennessee offense the ball at the Kentucky 28. That led to Sampson’s first touchdown of the event and gave the Vols their first lead of the night.
The Volunteers pushed the lead out to 21-10 as Kitselman scored on a six-yard pass from Iamaleava. The touchdown was set up by Brooks’ interception.
Kentucky trimmed the lead to 21-18 early in the fourth, but the Volunteers were able to add Sampson’s second touchdown and secure the win.
