Postgame Notes: Kentucky 29, Tennessee 26

Tennessee Tidbits

Tennessee's all-time record is 832-380-53. UT ranks ninth all-time in program wins.

With under 12 minutes left in the third quarter, Tennessee freshman running back Ty Chandler gained seven yards to push his rushing total to 104, becoming the first UT freshman to rush for 100 yards since Jalen Hurd rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries against Iowa on Jan. 2, 2015, in the TaxSlayer Bowl. Chandler finished the game with career highs of 120 yards and 22 carries.

With a season-high four forced fumbles, Tennessee now has five games this season with at least two forced fumbles. The Vols' four forced fumbles against Kentucky were their most since forcing four fumbles against Southern Miss on Sept. 8, 2007. Only two of those fumbles agaisnt Southern Miss in 2007 were recovered.

UT's four recovered fumbles were its most since recovering four fumbles against Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 2005, in the Cotton Bowl.

Freshman placekicker Brent Cimaglia made a career-high four field goals in the game, marking the most by a UT kicker since Aaron Medley made four field goals against Missouri in 2015.

At the 10:16 mark of the first quarter, all players on both teams were assigned an unsportsmanlike penalty. Following unsportsmanlike penalties to any player following that resulted in ejections.

Kickoff was at 7:39 p.m. ET.

Attendance: 57,543

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

The Tennessee team captains for Saturday's game against Kentucky are sophomore linebacker Daniel Bituli, redshirt senior offensive lineman Brett Kendrick, redshirt senior defensive lineman Kendal Vickers and senior tight end Ethan Wolf.

UT won the coin toss and chose to defer to receive in the second half.

UT is 5-4 on coin tosses this season (4-4 on pregame coin tosses and 1-0 in overtime).

In 2016, Tennessee won six out of 15 coin tosses, including six out of 13 pregame. The Vols did not win either of their two coin tosses in overtime. UT was 3-3 in 2016 when winning the pregame coin toss.

Tennessee-Kentucky Notes

Saturday's game marked the 113th all-time meeting between Tennessee and Kentucky.

Entering the game, Tennessee held a 79-24-9 all-time lead in the series with a 37-14-3 record when the game is played in Lexington. Prior to Saturday's loss the Vols won five straight in the series and have won 31 of the last 33 meetings.

Season-Best Rushing Attack

Despite the absence of leading rusher John Kelly, the Vols rushed for a season-best 203 yards against the Wildcats, who entered the game with the SEC's third-best rushing defense (123.6). It's the most rushing yards by the Vols since they rushed for 230 yards against Nebraska on Dec. 30, 2016, in the Music City Bowl.
Freshman Ty Chandler tallied his first career 100-yard game, taking 22 totes for 120 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore Carlin Fils-aime rushed 13 times for a career-best 73 yards.

Defense Forced Fumble On UK's First Offensive Play

Redshirt senior defensive tackle Kendal Vickers hit UK running back Benny Snell behind the line of scrimmage for a tackle for loss, forcing a fumble in the process that was recovered by sophomore safety Niger Warrior at the Kentucky 15-yard line just six seconds into the contest.

The forced fumble was the first of 2017 for Vickers and second of his career. The fumble recovery by Warrior was the first of his career. The play marked the 10th forced fumble of the season for the Vols. UT has forced a fumble in six of eight games in 2017.

Warrior Tallies His Third Forced Fumble

After recovering a fumble on the game's first play, Warrior forced a fumble of his own at the 4:57 mark in the first quarter, lowering the boom on Kentucky Sihiem King at the end of a 14-yard run. The Vols' Shy Tuttle recovered at the Kentucky 41, but missed a field goal a few plays later.

Warrior's three forced fumbles are tied for the sixth most in the nation in 2017. He also had forced fumbles against Florida and Georgia. The fumble recovery was the third of Tuttle's career.

Offensive Notes

FIRST HALF STATS: UT posted 241 yards of total offense in the first half. Tennessee gained 155 rushing yards in the first half, marking UT's most in any half this season. Jarrett Guarantano went 8-for-11 for 86 yards. Ty Chandler had 10 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Carlin Fils-aime had 11 carries for 53 yards. Marquez Callaway had two catches for 16 yards and Ethan Wolf had two grabs for 13 yards.

Playing in his 14th career game, sophomore running back Carlin Fils-aime made the first-ever start.

After the Vols' first possession of the game came after a UK fumble on the first offensive play of the game. Freshman placekicker Brent Cimaglia capped a three-yard, four-play drive with a 30-yard field goal to give UT a 3-0 lead.

On UT's second possession, sophomore running back Ty Chandler had an 80-yard touchdown run with 10:01 left in the first quarter negated after Josh Smith was called for holding. Later on the same drive, Chandler had a 29-yard run (one yard short of his career high). Cimaglia capped the 11-play, 69-yard drive with a 24-yard field goal, pulling the Vols to within 7-6.

With 10:46 on the clock in the second quarter, kentucky defender Chris Westry was called for pass interference on a pass from Jarrett Guarantano intended from Josh Palmer. The play resulted in a 15-yard penalty that put the Vols at the UK 49. Chandler capped the seven-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run, bringing UT to within 14-13. Chandler's touchdown was the first rushing touchdown by a UT freshman since Carlin Fils-aime had a one-yard score in the third quarter against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 5, 2016. The touchdown also ended UT's 15-quarter streak without a touchdown.

Guarantano completed a 23-yard pass over the middle to Chandler with under four minutes left in the first half to set Tennessee up at the UK 19. Four plays later, Chandler punched in a touchdown from one yard out to completed a 10-play, 71-yard drive. After an extra point by Cimaglia, UT pulled to within 21-20. with the touchdown, Chandler became the first UT freshman with a pair of rushing scores since Carlin Fils-aime had two rushing touchdowns against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 5.

With under 12 minutes left in the third quarter, Tennessee freshman running back Ty Chandler gained seven yards to push his rushing total to 104, becoming the first UT freshman to rush for 100 yards since Jalen Hurd rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries against Iowa on Jan. 2, 2015, in the TaxSlayer Bowl

As time ran off the clock in the fourth quarter, Guarantano completed a career-long 48-yard pass to Jeff George to the Kentucky three-yard line.

Defensive Notes

FIRST HALF STATS: The Vols limited UK to 212 first-half yards (148 rushing, 64 passing). Justin Martin and Micah Abernathy led the Vols with three tackles each.

With 11:23 remaining in the first half, defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie batted a pass by UK quarterback Stephen Johnson at the line of scrimmage to force 4th-and-6.

With 1:14 remaining in the first half, Daniel Bituli was disqualified from the game after receiving a second unsportsmanlike penalty.

Redshirt senior defensive back Rashaan Gaulden forced a fumble after a five yard-run by Drew Barker with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter. Elliott Berry recovered the ball, setting up a nine-play, 44-yard drive capped by a 30-yard field goal by Cimaglia that gave UT a 23-21 lead with under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

With 1:06 left in the third quarter, Kendal Vickers forced a fumble following a three-yard run by UK's Garrett Johnson and Gaulden recovered the ball, giving UT its fourth forced and recovered fumble of the game.

With 3:18 remaining, Gaulden was disqualified for the game after receiving an unsportsmanlike penalty. UK's Tavin Richardson was also ejected for an unsportsmanlike penalty the play.

Special Teams Highlights

FIRST HALF STATS: Trevor Daniel had one punt for 42 yards. Marquez Callaway had two punt returns for 13 yards and one kickoff return for -4 yards. .

Freshman Brent Cimaglia made a 30-yard field goal with 13:26 left in the first quarter to give the Vols a 3-0 lead.

With 4:34 remaining in the first quarter, Cimaglia capped the 11-play, 69-yard drive with a 24-yard field goal, pulling the Vols to within 7-6.

On his first punt of the evening, UT redshirt senior punter and Ray Guy Award nominee Trevor Daniel booted a 42-yard punt that was fair caught by Charles Walker at the UK 40.

Senior Evan Berry saw action at kick returner against Kentucky, marking his first game action since the season opener against Georgia Tech on Sept.4.

With 10:30 left in the third, Daniel pinned UK inside its own 10 when his 30-yard pun was down at the UK 6.

Cimaglia made a 30-yard field goal with 3:40 left in the third quarter to cap a nine-play, 44-yard drive and give the Vols a 23-21 lead.

With 13:24 left in the fourth quarter, Cimaglia made a 45-yard field goal to cap a seven-play, 22-yard drive and extend Tennessee's lead to 26-21.

With 4:43 remaining in the game, Daniel booted a 39-yard punt that was fair caught by Walker at the UK 28.

Upon Further Review

With 4:15 remaining in the first quarter, Kentucky running back Sihiem King rushed for 14 yards and was ruled down before UT's Nigel Warrior forced a fumble that was recovered by Shy Tuttle. After review, the play was changed to a forced fumble and a Tennessee recovery. REVERSED.

UT freshman running back Ty Chandler rushed 14 yards for a touchdown with 8:52 left in the second quarter. After review, Chandler was ruled down at the one-yard line. REVERSED.

With 3:40 left in the game, UK quarterback Stephen Johnson completed a 16-yard pass to Tavin Richardson near the right sideline. After a review, the call of a catch was confirmed. CONFIRMED. Tennessee is 6-5 on official reviews in 2017.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Tidbits

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

Tennessee-Kentucky Notes

Season-Best Rushing Attack

Defense Forced Fumble On UK's First Offensive Play

Warrior Tallies His Third Forced Fumble

Offensive Notes

Defensive Notes

Special Teams Highlights

Upon Further Review

Players Mentioned

Micah Abernathy

Elliott Berry

Evan Berry

Daniel Bituli

Marquez Callaway

Ty Chandler

Brent Cimaglia

Trevor Daniel

Carlin Fils-aime

Rashaan Gaulden

Jeff George

Jarrett Guarantano

John Kelly

Brett Kendrick

Justin Martin

Aaron Medley

Josh Palmer

Josh Smith

Shy Tuttle

Kendal Vickers

Nigel Warrior

Ethan Wolf

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