Tennessee football vs. Kentucky: A one-sided affair gets interesting again | Strange

This border rivalry isn’t what it used to be.

There is Kentucky’s ascension under Mark Stoops. Combine that with Tennessee’s decline under several coaches who were, well, not Mark Stoops – or Josh Heupel. Things have gotten interesting.

The Vols still hold sway, but it’s far from automatic anymore.

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As we wonder why The Beer Barrel couldn’t return, let’s stroll down memory lane.

2021: The best win of Heupel’s maiden season was the 45-42 shootout in Lexington. Hendon Hooker and Will Levis, a pair of transfer-portal newbies, went toe-to-toe.

In a game with five lead changes, the 18^th-ranked Wildcats finally blinked. Alontae Taylor picked off Levis for a 56-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter.

2020: The most miserable sequence of Jeremy Pruitt’s miserable final season at UT? I’d nominate Jarrett Guarantano throwing pick-sixes on consecutive possessions as the Wildcats romped 34-7, their first win in Neyland since 1984.

2011: Have they built a statue of Matt Roark at Kroger Field yet? The journeyman receiver stepped in at quarterback and led the ‘Cats to a 10-7 victory over disinterested-looking Tennessee.

The Vols’ 26-year win streak in the rivalry was no more.

2007: It took four overtimes for the Vols to clinch a 52-50 thriller that propelled them to the SEC championship game.

Erik Ainge outdueled Andre Woodson, throwing seven TD passes and the critical two-point conversion pass to Austin Rogers to give the Vols a 52-44 lead. The Wildcats answered with a touchdown, but Woodson was dragged down by Antonio Reynolds on the two-point try to end the marathon.

2001: Alex Walls’ 44-yard field goal with 2:49 to play made UT a 38-35 winner in Lexington. But not until a giant comeback.

Kentucky opened a 21-0 lead as the late, great Jared Lorenzen passed for two scores and rambled for one himself. Casey Clausen led the Vols back and Donte’ Stallworth caught three TD passes.

1996-2000: Five consecutive seasons Tennessee scored at least 56 points in blowout wins. Peyton Manning and Tee Martin each won twice and Clausen finished it off.

The most memorable was a 59-31 win in 1997 when Manning traded passes with Tim Couch. Manning threw for 523 yards, then a school record, and tied another record with five TD passes. Couch’s 476 passing yards was a Kentucky record.

1985: The road to an SEC title looked shaky when Tennessee went to the locker room in Lexington with a mere 6-0 edge. It was a downhill run to the finish – 42-0.

1962: Clarkie Mayfield’s field goal with 20 seconds left gave Kentucky a 12-10 win in Knoxville for first-year coach Charlie Bradshaw.

The win capped a decade in which the Wildcats dominated the Vols, 7-2-1. Five of Kentucky’s wins (and a tie) came under coach Blanton Collier, who had Tennessee’s number. In 1964 Collier coached the Cleveland Browns to the NFL championship.

1950: An epic showdown at Shields-Watkins Field. Robert Neyland and No. 9 Tennessee hosting Bear Bryant and undefeated No. 3 Kentucky. And a brutal winter storm.

They got the snow off the field but couldn’t do anything about the freezing temperature. After 20 combined punts and 18 – yes, 18 – combined turnovers, the Vols prevailed 7-0 thanks to a Hank Lauricella TD pass to Bert Rechichar.

Tennessee then beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl and Kentucky beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

1937-40: That lone Kentucky touchdown in the 1936 game? Cherish it. The Wildcats went four years without scoring a point as the Vols won by a combined 111-0. But then no one scored a point on Tennessee during the 1939 regular season.

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The Tennessee football vs Kentucky rivarly is no longer one-sided