Mark Higgs rushed for 2,892 yards at Kentucky. In 1987, he averaged a school-record 6.6 yards per carry.

Mike Whiteside was a third-string Tennessee noseguard who had made six tackles all season.

Doesn't sound like a fair fight, but Whiteside won.

Peyton Manning. Enough said.

Billy Jack Haskins' claim to fame was having the best name of any SEC quarterback until Jim Bob Cooter came along.

Doesn't sound like a fair fight, but it went to the bell.

"It would have been a huge win, but it will be another asterisk in the tough-game-that-got-away category.''

Recognize that quote from the past?

Probably not. It was Rich Brooks two years ago in Neyland Stadium. But it could have been any Kentucky football coach of the past two decades.

Games against Tennessee have been getting away from Kentucky annually since 1984.

Sometimes it's a landslide. From 1996-2000, Tennessee's average victory margin was 57.8 to 20.6.

Sometimes, the Wildcats make it interesting for a while before Tennessee flexes its muscle.

Every now and then, however, it doesn't get away until the final few ticks of the clock.

The Vols' winning streak was barely a streak (two games) in 1987.

Kentucky led 20-14 as the third quarter ended. The Vols got a field goal and then a Jeff Francis touchdown pass to Terrence Cleveland with 6:25 left.

Trailing 24-20, Kentucky drove for first-and-goal at the Tennessee 5.

Three times the Cats called on senior tailback Higgs, but his advance was a foot short of the goal line.

The game hung on fourth down.

Higgs tried to go over the top, but he was stopped cold by Whiteside, who was on the field only because of an injury to Brian Hunt.

Tennessee had held. The Vols ran three plays and punter Bob Garmon took an intentional safety in the final seconds to ensure the win, 24-22.

The streak was at nine games in 1995, when the fourth-ranked Vols were a 25-point favorite in Lexington.

Kentucky wasn't impressed. The Wildcats led 24-9 in the third quarter.

Manning, a sophomore, quickly rallied the Vols into a 27-24 lead on a 70-yard strike to Joey Kent.

The scrappy Haskins, playing with a painful shoulder injury, ripped off a tackle-breaking 47-yard run to put Kentucky back on top, 31-27 early in the fourth quarter.

Manning's TD pass to little-known Greg Kyler made it 34-31, and proved to be the game-winner, even though the Cats kept scratching.

After Haskins was knocked out of the game with a separated shoulder replacement Jeff Speedy moved Kentucky in range to attempt a 48-yard field goal to tie.

Raymond Austin blocked the kick and a relieved Tennessee ran out the clock.

The streak had grown legs at 15 games by 2001.

Kentucky jumped to a 21-0 lead and Jared Lorenzen would pass for 406 yards before it was over. And yet it got away.

Casey Clausen rallied the Vols to a 35-28 lead only to see a Lorenzen bomb tie it with 3:53 to play.

A 44-yard Alex Walls field goal broke the tie, but the 38-35 victory wasn't preserved until linebacker Eddie Moore stripped a Kentucky receiver and Will Overstreet recovered at the Tennessee 21.

Another Clausen foiled the Wildcats in 2004.

A 23-point underdog, Kentucky led 31-22 in the fourth quarter before third-string quarterback Rick Clausen roused the Vols.

He passed for one score to Tony Brown then guided UT, trailing 31-29, downfield in the final minute.

Gerald Riggs' 12-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left kept the streak intact.

And intact it stands to this day, awaiting the next close call.