Gameday
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Even as Kentucky coach Rich Brooks lauded his team’s second-half comeback and clutch play in four overtimes, he couldn’t forget a disastrous first half.
“I just told them (at halftime) I didn’t know what we did the first half,” Brooks said after Kentucky’s 52-50 loss to Tennessee in four overtimes Saturday. “But we didn’t play the kind of football we’re capable of playing.
“We’re not playing with emotion or having fun (Brooks told his team). I didn’t rave at them. But (that’s) not who we are.”
The Wildcats regained their identity in the second half. They gained 431 yards and made 25 first downs after halftime.
But the spectacular comeback from a 24-7 deficit fell short.
“There were a lot of great plays made by both teams,” Brooks said. “In the end, they made one play more than we did.”
The game ended when UT defensive end Antonio Reynolds tackled Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson on a two-point conversion try in the fourth overtime.
“Andre was looking and couldn’t see (any receiver),” Brooks said. “Then he tried to scramble and didn’t see the guy coming around behind him.
“He was trying to make up his mind whether to run it or find a receiver. He slowed down to look, and the guy got him.”
The Vols rarely got Woodson after halftime. He completed 32 of 49 passes after halftime for 352 yards and five touchdowns.
“Andre has been playing well all year,” said wide receiver Steve Johnson, who was one of four Kentucky players with at least six catches for 80 or more yards. “He is still my man. He took this loss hard, but we still have another game (assuming the Wildcats make a bowl) to get him another win.”
Until the final tackle, Kentucky envisioned a come-from-behind win and an end to UT’s 22-game winning streak in the series, especially when Lones Seiber lined up for a potential game-winning 34-yard field goal in the second overtime.
“I thought it was over,” Johnson said. “All we had to do was get a field goal, and the game would be a wrap and the streak would be over.”
Losing in overtime was bad enough. Losing to UT, which has now won 23 consecutive games against Kentucky, made it worse.
“Since I came here, Tennessee was the team that I wanted to beat,” Kentucky offensive guard Jason Leger said. “The problem was that we made too many mistakes.
“As a team, we came together to have a shot at winning, but we couldn’t overcome the deficit we were in. This is the toughest loss for me at Kentucky.”
A couple of Kentucky’s biggest mistakes came in the secondary.
On UT’s first play, quarterback Erik Ainge connected with running back Arian Foster for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Foster was unguarded on the play.
“One of our linebackers has got to take him,” Brooks said. “He busted the coverage.”
Kentucky’s other big bust came in the final overtime.
After UT began its series at the Kentucky 40 because of a personal foul penalty, Ainge hit a wide-open Quintin Hancock for a touchdown pass.
“We got a break with the penalty,” Brooks said. “We bust a coverage and give it to them on one play.
“It was a great college football game. But the way I look at it, the wrong team ended up winning.”
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
Memorable moments in Pat Summitt's…
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Phillip Fulmer through the years
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 31
huntined#565710 writes:
Live in Fla. game was cut off with 2 min left in reg.game Had to watch Fla-Fla State in a game that did not matter at all. CBS took a game that meant a team could go to the championship game off the air...That is B.S.
Had to get a play by play on the phone with my Brother in Tenn..If it had been OHIO STATE playing they would have left the game on..ROUGH BEING A VOL OUT OF THE STATE..
mvmercer writes:
You could have watched the game online at www.channelsurfing.net
jweaver3#395614 writes:
Well AirForceOne you idiot we have played it 24 times and UK has not won even ONE, So how can such a football genius make a blanket statement like that? Answer: They can't because history doesn't lie!!!!!! only non football fans with no concept at all of the game could make such a statement!!!
TXVOLSFAN
DenmarkVol_aka_Mbumburu writes:
Actually, I do feel sorry for KY. Those guys played with every bit as much heart as we did. They came back from way down and pretty much owned the second half.
They have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. As Brooks said, we made one more play than they did. KY certainly has my respect.
Ironcity writes:
UK played tough if I had no rooting interest I would feel bad for UK however I did have a rooting interest and I just can't bring myself to care for UK. Lets win 20 more in a row!!
ncvol17 writes:
Cat Fans: How long since you saw a W against the VOLS? 1st you were born 23 yrs ago- then school - then college - then marriage - then kids - No wins vs the VOLS !!!
BigOrangeInCarolina writes:
KY has a lot of people's respect. They played hard and had a good season. I really don't care who they win or lose against, as long as the streak continues. BTW, wonder what was going through Sanders' head as this thing played out?
Einstein writes:
Rich Brooks, you are a CRYBABY. The last time I checked the score was 52 - 50 in Tennessee's favor. Unless you have changed the rules, the Team with the Most Points Wins. It doesn't matter how you played or how you think you played.
jweaver3#395614 writes:
I watched the game with several Texas fans living in San Antonio and they said it was one of the most exciting games they have seen in a long time.
Tough loss for the Cats but I agree with volster would have been tougher for us Vol fans!!!
GO VOLS
LET'S GET OUR REVENGE IN ATLANTA
TXVOLSFAN
volfans_1#225396 writes:
I was sitting in a section mixed with UT and KY fans and they had nothing better to do than boo our band !!! A female UT fan told them they had no class and then it was on...back and forth jabbering and all they could say was look at the banners in Rupp arena..so I politely stepped in to say stop living in the 80's and reminded them of Gardner Webb as well as we were at a football game and 22 years of losing to us. I have never heard a crowd get so excited about first downs in my life....so the UT fans started our own little first down chant of our own. Their stadium is a dinosaur and the band is horrible ( we actually clapped for their band ). I have been to nicer high school stadiums. Too bad KY is used to losing and not winning or we ( UT fans ) would be having a bad day.I feel no pain today for my team or theirs. Rich Brooks is classless...we listened to the call in shows after the game and he was still crying and making excuses. One show host said he thought UT's touchdown that was reviewed and stood as a TD would have been called incomplete if it wasn't in overtime...what kind of phooey is that, no wonder I saw so many drunk KY fans before and after the game, they can't stand themselves I guess.
jboyle5555#228112 writes:
Give Coach Brooks a pacifier and put him to bed somebody !
dhollland writes:
I don't care how ugly the 2nd half was or how KY should have won the game...all that matters IMO is Ws and Ls......UT got the W and heads to Atlanta...
What else is there to say about this game?
CrankE writes:
I'm not going to be quick to put UK down. They're the real deal and UT was only ][ that far from losing.
As for Brooks, in his shoes, the smart move would be to parlay the UK success into another coaching job elsewhere-Lord knows there's plenty of vacancies. UK is experiencing a once in a generation resurgence. He could walk away, claim credit, and get the money elsewhere. Because at UK, it's all downhill from here. How many Woodsons are out there? How many will come to UK? Basketball is still king up there-no matter how many goalposts they tear down.
For your SEC-E-4th place finish, here's your engraved Zippo.
__________
By the way, when I went to the Yahoo sports page (http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/standin...)to see the standings, they STILL list Georgia ahead of UT in the East. Sigh. One more for "The Press Hates UT" folder.
billnewton#588776 writes:
to huntined....you're probably too young to know about CBS's famous "Heidi game", but sounds like you got "Heidi-ed" down there in FL. Have a friend who called last night from FL in the same state of mind as you! As least it will be fun watching the highlights today...and tomorrow..on ESPN, etc.! What a game, but my heart just can't many more like this. Please, Vols...beat LSU badly and don't let them come back in the 2nd half!!
asleep#212036 writes:
I had an almost perfect day. We won in dramatic fashion, yanking the rug out from under the 'Cats at the last second. I also got to watch it in Auburn with a bunch of Bama fans who were sicker than Coach Brooks that we pulled it out. Then, Bama lost. WAAAAH! Then Missouri, where I attended grad school, won. Let me tell you folks, when I was there in the late 80's, they were the Ole Miss of the Big Eight Conference. I think they won maybe 10 games in 3 years. Today, they are the number 1 team in the land, according to the AP. Holy Smokes! The only thing that ruined my almost perfect day is that South Carolina lost. What could have been better than 6-6 Alabama and their $4 Million/year coach watching all the 7-5 or better SEC teams play a bowl game? Unfortunately, Bama will now get the last at-large bid over SC. Oh well, it was so close to being perfect. Go Vols!!!
volfan13#1344815 writes:
Hey "huntined", all us UT fans that live in Florida had to go through the same thing. I've sent an email to the local TV station and to CBS expressing my extreme unhappiness with their decision to switch to the FL ST/FL game. If you will send me your email address I can tell you how to listen to the Vols broadcasts on the Internet.
wisonsinvol writes:
What the f*&) are you talking about Airforce? Play this ten times and Ky loses ten times. Play this ten times and we stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Play this ten times and our soft defense is not playing 15 yards off the line of scrimmage. Yeah, maybe KY did have three or four opportunities to win this game and didn't. But make no mistake about it, they had those opportunities because Tennessee gave them those opportunities. Just how many times do you think KY stopped us? The interceptions maybe and two of those were just awesome defensive plays. How many awesome defensive plays does a KY team have in it. Get real man, this may have been the best KY team in years, but there is no way they should even be in the same game with us. Catch the 3rd and 4th downs passes, don't drop at least 2 interceptions, etc...
AlpharettaVol writes:
Footbll is about an inch or two here or there making the difference. Yesterday the inch was our way. That's what separates the champion teams from the also-rans.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
431 yds in the second half! I must have missed something! I thought we held them to, err... 360! Guess I missed Burton standing alone a couple of times. Beware LSU, your best receiver had better be tough. He'll get hit 15-18 times after a catch. Fear the Phil, Tigers. Go Vols!
primetimevol writes:
How sweet is it to hear the Georgia faithful cry in their beer as well. Here are some excerpts from the ESPN.com write up on the Georgia/Georgia Tech game:
"Tennessee's victory was especially tough to take because Richt and at least some of his players first heard an erroneous report that Kentucky had won, which would have given the Bulldogs the SEC East title outright. Instead, Tennessee won the tiebreaker.
"I went into the tank slightly," Richt conceded. "It would have been better if Tennessee had just won it outright. I spent 20 or 30 minutes thinking we were coming back to Atlanta next week. It kind of hurt my feelings a little bit."
Awwww, poor baby!!! How bad did Mark's feelings get hurt when we beat them 35-14???
"Right now, I think we're playing the best of anyone in the country," receiver Sean Bailey said. "Unfortunately, we had a couple of slip-ups."
Hmmmm, how little of a slip up is a 28-0 halftime lead on our way to a 35-14 drubbing??? Exactly! I welcome all Georgia fans to make the short drive to Atlanta to watch us in the SEC Championship!!!
callen825#321558 writes:
Airforceone...what planet do you reside on? KY hasn't won a TN game in, let's see, 23 years. This will be a great game in Knox-patch next year, and we'll whoop them again!
asleep#212036 writes:
Considering that I don't remember us punting the ball, I'd say that we had a pretty good day offensively and that Kentucky was a couple of plays away from being blown out. It's a testament to our teams' superiority that we can play that poorly in the second half, on the road, and still win. And if Kentucky hadn't gotten even more poor play from LSU 6 weeks ago, they would be 6-6, just where we expect them to be. They will always be Kentucky and next year, with 16 senior starters gone, 6-6 will be a good record. We dropped 5 passes (two on defense, three on offense), any one of which would have put the game away in regulation and then some. We sacked Woodson 6 times, intercepted him twice, and caused him to fumble twice. He threw 23 incompletions and their longest gainer was just a fantastic play by the receiver to pull the ball away from Berry. We had multiple big plays including the 65-yarder to open the game and set the tone. I say we're the better team and we win 9 times out of 10. On to LSU! Go Vols!!!
mbradshaw1#655539 writes:
CBS sucks! I hope us vols in Florida will get to see the whole game next week. Or maybe a rerun of Heidi!
GO VOLS!!!
billwall writes:
Just for the record, UK ends up 5th in the East. They tied with SC, but lose the tiebreaker based on their loss to SC. Also, where was the flag on KY's interception in the 2nd overtime? He definitely interfered with our receiver even though he turned his head to the ball.
volfan73120#211815 writes:
What a season. Consider this possibility. The Vols beat LSU, and goes to the Sugar Bowl. The BCS has 1. Missouri
2.West Virginia
3.Ohio State
4.Georgia
Oklahoma beats Missouri, and Pittsburg beats West Virginia next week. Does that mean Georgia and Ohio State play for the NC. If Georgia wins they would be NC, and not the SEC champs. How would the BCS tweak this?
asleep#212036 writes:
volfan,
Twice the BCS has toyed with the idea of making it a requirement that only conference champions can play for a national championship. First was in 2001 when Nebraska was killed by Colorado in the Big 12 CG but due to our loss to LSU, they were still second and got to go and get raped by Miami. Two years later, Oklahoma got killed by Kansas State in Big 12 CG and stayed number 2, losing to LSU in the Sugar Bowl and generating the famous media-generated "split" national championship with USC. Of course, since the BCS, there is no such thing (and had USC won and LSU been the AP #1, there would have been no mention made of it). Point is, they refuse to do it because (my guess) they don't want to accidentally keep USC, Ohio State, Michigan, or some weak a$$ Big East or ACC team out of the mix. Just last year, remember the lobbying for a Michigan/Ohio State rematch? Couldn't have happened if they changed the rules. I think it is ludicrous that a team that didn't even win its conference division could play for it all. This year, that would eliminate Georgia, Florida, and Kansas from contention no matter where they ended up in the BCS. They would simply be skipped. I think that is fair EXCEPT the PAC 10 and Big 10 don't have to play a championship game, thus minimizing their exposure to that rule. So for now, I say leave it alone. Go Vols!!!
aj_vol#248433 writes:
If Oklahoma beats #1 Missouri in the Big 12 Championship (for the 2nd time this season) there is no way Georgia is ranked ahead of the Sooners
The biggest win UGA had all season was against a 9-3 Florida team. Not sure what all the hype is about with UGA except the hype that Richt created with the endzone celebrations & black jerseys
orangebloodgmc writes:
This is weird for me, because I detest Florida, but think they are underrated at this time. Conversely, I don't dislike Georgia or Richt, but feel they are much overrated right now. Has been a strange season.
Sorry KY was such sore losers, but some articles said our dominance of them continues, and I would DISAGREE with that. Vols got hard-fought W, but game could have gone either way, and we did not dominate. But then, we don't have to.
GoVol writes:
Give coach Chavis the game ball and then shove it up his A@*. He stupidly called off the pressure which allowed Woodson to pick us apart. I hate his prevent defense because it never works. coach Chavis must have had a bet on the game!!!
mattingly writes:
The "Heidi" game was actually on NBC, depriving viewers of an Oakland comeback win over the Jets. Curt Gowdy had the play-by-play. That one caused lot of stir, even back in those days when the game was the thing. No talking heads in those days. Just the game(s) each Sunday. Was that good or what?
phi0129 writes:
Yeah, did anyone watch the UGA game? I admit they have played pretty good the last few weeks, but any halfway decent team would've beaten the phooey out of them this weekend. They made mistakes all over the field and were lucky that they were playing such a horrible team. Another joke media darling team while our Vols have more heart than the rest of the teams in the SEC combined!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.