No. 8 UK Falls 34-6 at No. 16 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE – November 8, 2026 – Bradley Charles

It was a disappointing night on Saturday for Big Blue Nation. No. 8 Kentucky fell short 34-6 at No. 16 Tennessee.

A strength of UK’s this season has been limiting turnovers and penalties. Against Tennessee, the Cats were plagued by both. Kentucky finished the game with three turnovers compared to Tennessee’s zero, while UK also tallied seven penalties for 50 yards.

The first half indicated that Kentucky could move the football, but would struggle to turn that success into touchdowns on the drives that didn’t end with a turnover. That trend continued in a scoreless second half for the Cats.

UK finished the game with 361 total yards of offense compared to 389 for Tennessee. Kentucky registered 20 first downs, while the Volunteers tallied 14.

Will Stein, Kenny Minchey, and Ty Bryant spoke in the postgame press conference. The cumulative message from the trio was to avoid embracing a negative mentality from the loss. They opted to embrace a head-up; let’s move forward and improve mentality, while acknowledging their ultimate goals are still achievable.

The Cats are now 7-2 (5-2 SEC) on the season, while Tennessee is 7-2 (4-2 SEC.) Up next for UK is a home game against No. 25 Florida on Saturday, Nov. 14.