When UK got off to another fast start Saturday on the road against Tennessee, it looked as if this year’s team had the ability to play with the Vols after being blown out in the two teams’ previous three meetings.   

However, that was far from the case mainly because Joshua Dobbs was still Tennessee’s quarterback. Dobbs combined for 370 yards in the Vols’ 49-36 victory Saturday. Dobbs moved to 4-0 in his career against the Cats with 16 touchdowns in those four games including a total of five Saturday.

“(Dobbs is) very talented,” head coach Mark Stoops said after the game. “He’s a big guy that’s very elusive. He’s deceptive. He has great speed but he has very good balance and toughness. I’m glad we don’t have to see him anymore.”

From the start of the game, it became apparent that the Cats were going to struggle to stop Dobbs and the Tennessee offense. While UK struggled to stop the Vols, the Vols could not stop UK either.

The Cats racked up 443 rushing yards, just three short of a school record. Five Cats ran for over 75 yards, but still managed to lose by two possessions. It is the first time all season that an FBS team rushed for more than 400 yards and lost.

As the ground game clearly thrived Saturday, it was not all perfect for the offense. Only converting six of 17 total third downs, and not having a receiver with more than 35 yards, the game become even more challenging.

Going on the road and looking to pull an upset is difficult to begin with, but when a team fails to convert in the red-zone as UK did on Saturday, it only becomes tougher.

“To be great, to get over the hump to where we need to be, we need to finish,” offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said after the game. “We have to finish in the red zone and score touchdowns and not field goals especially when you are on the road.”

The Cats looked good from a statistical standpoint going 5-6 in the red-zone, but that stat does not show that as just two of those conversions were field goals as opposed to touchdowns. The one missed red zone opportunity that resulted in zero points for UK, was the same opportunity that was the deal breaker.

On a 3rd and four from the Vols’ eight yard line, freshman running back Benny Snell Jr. fumbled after picking up the first down, Tennessee recovered and on the ensuing drive scored to go ahead 35-16.

The Vols scoring following a UK possession, especially a scoring/opportunistic possession, was nearly a given as Tennessee scored five touchdowns immediately after the Cats put up points.

“Yeah, I mean, we had to get a stop and get off the field and couldn’t do it,” Stoops said. “Again, there was very few third downs. They were making hay on first and second down. That was frustrating.”

While the offensive numbers are clearly astonishing this game with over 1,000 total yards between the two teams, it was UK’s defense that did not provide much resistance to Dobbs and the Vols’ offense who only faced five third downs all afternoon.

One thing that did not help the Cats’ cause was the amount of injuries that key players suffered throughout the game. Two of UK’s biggest playmakers, receiver Jeff Badet and linebacker Jordan Jones were injured in the first half and were unable to return.

Hampered by injury and unable to convert inside the red-zone, the Cats could not take advantage of the Vols’ inability to stop the run. That resulted in Dobbs and Tennessee being able to get whatever they wanted on the offensive end which in turn was the main reason the Vols handed UK its second straight loss.

While it is tough to draw positives from this game, the offense churned out over 600 yards and the team as a whole is just one win away from bowl eligibility. Now, a matchup with 0-9 Austin Peay lies ahead Saturday and the team is eager to get the loss behind them and move on.