Tennessee vs. Kentucky football: Final score, highlights as Vols stay in playoff chase

Dylan Sampson broke Tennessee football record for rushing touchdowns in a season, and the No. 7 Vols held off Kentucky for a 28-18 victory Saturday night.

Sampson scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter and a 6-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Those were his 18th and 19th rushing TDs of the season. It broke Jean McEverUT single-season record with 18 rushing TDs set in 1929.

Two weeks after beating Alabama, the Vols (7-1, 4-1 SEC) could be on the roster the first ranking of the college football playoffs November 5.

Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) plays Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium.

UT dominated the rivalry against Kentucky (3-6, 1-6). The Vols have won 37 of their last 40 meetings and coach Josh Heupel has a 4-0 record against Great Britain.

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Tennessee vs Kentucky score

Tennessee vs. Kentucky Update

Fourth quarter

Tennessee 28, Kentucky 18: Sampson’s 6-yard TD run

Dylan Sampson’s second rushing touchdown, this time from six yards out, made it 28-18 with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee 21, Kentucky 18: MacLean 32-yard TD pass from Wimsatt

Ja’Mary MacLean with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Wimsatt with 13:31 left in the fourth quarter. Kentucky converts the two-point conversion.

The third quarter

Tennessee 21, Kentucky 10: Kitselman 6-yard TD pass from Yamaleva

Niko Yamaleava completes a 6-yard pass to Myles Kitselman to extend Tennessee’s lead to 21-10 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.

Tennessee 14, Kentucky 10: Sampson, 7-yard TD run

Dylan Sampson’s 7-yard touchdown run gave Tennessee a 14-10 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter.

Second quarter

Kentucky 10, Tennessee 7: Raynor 32-yard FG

Alex Raynor’s 32-yard field goal gave Kentucky a 10-7 lead with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Tennessee 7, Kentucky 7: Lewis 1-yard TD

Peyton Lewis scores from a yard out to give Tennessee a 7-7 tie with Kentucky with 4:45 left in the second quarter.

The first quarter

Kentucky 7, Tennessee 0: Kattus’ 27-yard pass from Vandagriff

Kentucky’s Brock Vandagriff finds Josh Kattus for a 27-yard TD pass with 5:28 left in the first quarter.

What channel is Tennessee vs. Kentucky on tonight?

Watch selected Tennessee games live with Fubo (free trial)

Tennessee vs. Kentucky start time

The Tennessee vs. Kentucky game is scheduled to begin at 7:45 PM ET on Saturday, October 19 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.

The game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, with streaming options available on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers. Tom Hart will handle play-by-play duties and Jordan Rodgers will be the color analyst for the broadcast. Cole Kubelik will be the additional reporter.

The story of Tennessee vs. Kentucky

• Series recording: Tennessee leads on field 84-26-9/83-26-9*

• Tennessee’s last win: 33-27 (2023)

• Kentucky’s latest win: 34-7 (2020)

*Tennessee won the 2019 game, but it was overturned due to NCAA violations

Tennessee vs Kentucky prediction

Tennessee 34, Kentucky 17: Kentucky gives up a lot of rushing yards and the occasional deep pass. It’s a good set-up for Dylan Sampson to break out of sight and Niko Yamaleava to get big passing opportunities out of bounds. Expect UT’s defense to be stingy as usual as the Vols begin the November stretch. Check out other predictions from our Knox News staff.

Tennessee vs Kentucky betting odds

Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Saturday:

Tennessee vs. Kentucky: Injury information

The injury list comes from the SEC’s availability report released Friday. This list will be updated when SEC Availability Report there are updated 90 minutes before the start of the match.

• Tennessee: DB Jourdain Thomas (left), LB Keenan Peele (retired), LB Edwin Spielman (retired), DL Caleb Herring (questionable).

• Kentucky: DB Maxwell Hairston (retired), DB DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum (retired), DB DJ Waller Jr. (retired), DB Jantzen Dunn (retired), DB Quay’sheed Scott (retired), OLB JJ Weaver (retired), ILB Jayvant Brown (retired), OLB Steven Soules Jr. (retired), DL Darrion Henry-Young (retired), ILB D’Eric Jackson (retired), OL Gerald Mincey (retired), TE Jordan Dingle (retired), DL Josaih Hayes (retired), DB Nasir Addison ( probably).

Weather updates between Tennessee and Kentucky

The forecast calls for 68 degrees and cloudy skies at the start.

Tennessee football schedule for 2024

All times are Eastern

• August 31: Tennessee 69, Chattanooga 3

• September 7: Tennessee 51, North Carolina State 10

• September 14: Tennessee 71, Kent State 0

• September 21: Tennessee 25, Oklahoma 15*

• October 5: Arkansas 19, Tennessee 14*

• October 12: Tennessee 23, Florida 17 (OT)*

• October 19: Tennessee 24, No. 14 Alabama 17*

• November 2: Tennessee vs. Kentucky* | 7:45 p.m SEC network

• November 9: Tennessee vs. Mississippi State* | 7 or 7:45 pm | ESPN or SEC Network

• November 16: Tennessee at No. 2 Georgia*

• November 23: Tennessee vs. UTEP | 13:00 | ESPN+/SEC Network+

• November 30: Tennessee at Vanderbilt*

Denotes conference play*

2024 Kentucky football schedule

All times are Eastern

• August 31: Kentucky 31, Southern Miss 0

• September 7: South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6*

• September 14: #2 Georgia 13, Kentucky 12*

• September 21: Kentucky 41, Ohio 6

• September 28: No. 18 Ole miss 20, Kentucky 17*

• October 12: Vanderbilt 20, Kentucky 13*

• October 19: Florida 48, Kentucky 20*

• October 26: Auburn 24, Kentucky 10*

• November 2: Kentucky at No. 7 Tennessee* | 7:45 p.m SEC network

• November 16: Murray State in Kentucky | 1:30 p.m ESPN+, SEC Network+

• November 23: Kentucky, Texas, #6*

• November 30: Louisville in Kentucky

Denotes conference play*

Adam Sparks is a football reporter for the state of Tennessee. E-mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing to knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs. Kentucky Football: Final Score, Highlights