KNOXVILLE — The calendar has flipped to November.
Tennessee has defeated Kentucky.
The Volunteers collected their 37th victory over the Wildcats in the past 40 series meetings Saturday night inside Neyland Stadium, once again using reliable junior running back Dylan Sampson to power their way to a 28-18 triumph before an 18th consecutive sellout crowd of 101,915.
“I’m excited about the win,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “You don’t take any of those for granted, but there is still a lot out there for us.”
Sampson had 27 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns, and his 6-yard score with 4:58 remaining that provided the 10-point margin was his 19th of the season to set a program record. His scoring standard capped a 13-play, 91-yard drive that consumed 5 minutes and 14 seconds of game clock and contained a pair of third-and-7 situations that quarterback Nico Iamaleava converted with passes to Dont’e Thornton and Bru McCoy.
Gene McEver set Tennessee’s previous single-season rushing touchdown mark in 1929, but Sampson broke it with the help of his offensive teammates pushing a pile of humanity into the end zone.
“I’m not going to lie. I’m surprised they didn’t blow the whistle,” Sampson said. “That meant a lot to me, though, and I’m going to cherish that play forever. My teammates probably wanted me to get that more than I did. Even Nico came in and pushed me, and that just shows the brotherhood we’ve got.”
Said Iamaleava: “I think I contributed some. I had seen Samp break a couple of tackles, and he was like at the 4. I just decided to go help.”
The No. 7 Vols improved to 7-1 overall and to 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play. They have now won three consecutive games when trailing at halftime after being just 1-12 in such games previously in the Josh Heupel era (with that one victory coming last season over Texas A&M).
Kentucky dropped its fourth straight game to fall to 3-6 overall and 1-6 in the SEC.
Sampson provided the Vols their first lead at 14-10 with a 7-yard touchdown run with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter. Sampson’s score capped a 28-yard drive that was set up by Vols edge rusher Joshua Josephs stripping Wildcats quarterback Brock Vandagriff and linebacker Jeremiah Telander recovering the ball.
A sack by heralded Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. knocked Vandagriff out of the game on Kentucky’s next possession, and he was replaced by Gavin Wimsatt, who had the Wildcats on the move in the final minute of the third quarter until Will Brooks stepped in front of a pass intended for tight end Josh Kattus. Brooks returned the interception 66 yards to Kentucky’s 10-yard line to set up a 6-yard touchdown toss from Iamaleava to tight end Miles Kitselman that gave the Vols a 21-10 lead.
“I thought I might be able to take it all the way back,” Brooks said, “but I got a little gassed and got caught.”
Kitselman, the transfer from Alabama, finished with six catches for 97 yards and the score, while Iamaleava was 28-of-38 passing for 292 yards. Holden Staes added three receptions for 27 yards, giving Tennessee’s tight ends nine catches for 124 yards on the evening.
“It was definitely seeing weaknesses in the defense, and the coaches saw that tight ends were going to have a really big opportunity,” Kitselman said. “They put us in places and positions to be successful, and we just went out there and played ball.”
Wimsatt responded by leading the Wildcats on a six-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 32-yard touchdown strike to Ja’Mori Maclin with 13:31 remaining. Wimsatt and Maclin then teamed on the 2-point conversion to make it a 21-18 game.
Tennessee’s three-game stretch of failing to score in the first half finally came to an end with 4:45 before halftime, when freshman running back Peyton Lewis scored from a yard out to cap a 14-play, 65-yard possession that tied the game at 7. The drive was highlighted by an 18-yard pass from Iamaleava to Kitselman to the Kentucky 8.
Lewis had not carried the ball since the 71-0 rout of Kent State on Sept. 14.
Kentucky opened the contest with Jamarion Wilcox breaking free for a 50-yard run to the Tennessee 27-yard line. The Wildcats advanced all the way to the 5, but a fourth-and-2 gamble failed when Vandagriff threw high for Dane Key.
The Vols began their first possession at their 5-yard line and drove 80 yards to the Kentucky 15 before backtracking on a holding penalty on right tackle John Campbell Jr. and coming away empty when Max Gilbert missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt way left.
Kentucky went 75 yards in six plays on its second drive, reaching the end zone on a 27-yard strike down the middle of the field from Vandagriff to Kattus for a 7-0 lead with 5:28 left in the opening quarter. The Wildcats racked up 142 yards in their first two possessions.
“That was not the outcome we were looking for at all, but I do appreciate the toughness that our team displayed,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “We had an opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but it didn’t happen. We have to play like this to have a chance. That’s where we are right now.”
Late in the first quarter, Vols safety Andre Turrentine intercepted Vandagriff at the Kentucky 45, but Tennessee gave it right back with a Sampson fumble at the Wildcats’ 22.
A 23-yard completion from Iamaleava to McCoy to Kentucky’s 18-yard line early in the second quarter had the Vols in position to end their first-half scoring drought, but they stalled out, and Gilbert missed a 40-yard attempt wide right.
The Vols took their opening possession of the second half 60 yards in 10 plays, but Gilbert missed again way left from 34 yards out. Gilbert has missed five attempts in the past two games.
“I do have confidence in him,” Heupel said, “but he’s got to find a way to start faster. He’s kicked it extremely well up until the last couple of weeks and hit a big one late against Bama. He’s kicked it well in practice, and because of some of what we’ve done offensively, it’s not like he’s starting out with chip shots.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee’s home game next Saturday night against Mississippi State will kick off at 7 and be televised by ESPN. … Heupel did not have an injury update after the game on redshirt freshman running back DeSean Bishop, who had one carry for 6 yards.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.