LEXINGTON, KY — Joey Aguilar passed for 396 yards to overcome Tennessee‘s defensive deficiencies as the Vols beat Kentucky 56-24 in a shootout on Oct. 25.
It was the 13th-most passing yards by a player in a single game in Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) history.
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Meanwhile, the 17th-ranked Vols put all facets of their boom-or-bust defense on full display. They scored a defensive touchdown on an interception and recovered a fumble that led to another TD.
But that same UT defense allowed Kentucky (2-5, 0-5 SEC) to gain a 476 yards of total offense. And UK quarterback Cutter Boley passed for 330 yards and five TDs.
Fortunately, Aguilar was there to capitalize on the best of UT’s defense and compensate for its worst.
UT coach Josh Heupel improved to 5-0 against Kentucky, and his team remained in the playoff hunt with four games remaining in the regular season.
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Tennessee plays Oklahoma (6-2, 2-2 SEC) on Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at Neyland Stadium. Here are five takeaways from the Vols’ road win over Kentucky.
Joey Aguilar had an all-time great performance
Aguilar was 20-of-26 passing for 396 yards and three TDs. He was dialed in from the opening drive, when he tossed a 35-yard TD pass, to a red-hot second half.
Aguilar spread the ball around beautifully and connected on every kind of pass. His TD tosses were from 13, 35 and 62 yards. And he was perfect on deep passes.
Aguilar kept his 200-yard passing streak going. He has passed for at least 200 yards in all 32 starts of his Division I career, including eight at UT and 24 at Appalachian State. That’s the longest active streak in the FBS.
Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar (6) and Tennessee tight end Ethan Davis (0) celebrate after a touchdown during a NCAA football game against Kentucky at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky on Oct. 25, 2025.
Chris Brazzell was back in the groove, and others joined him
Chris Brazzell got back to catching touchdowns and deep passes after a couple of games in which he did neither.
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Brazzell caught a 35-yard TD pass on a deep slant on the game’s opening drive. He also made catches of 47 yards and 50 yards on vertical routes along the sidelines.
Brazzell finished with four receptions for 138 yards and one TD. He remains among the SEC’s leading receivers.
Mike Matthews had six receptions for 107 yards and one TD. Braylon Staley had six receptions for 105 yards. Tight end Ethan Davis also caught a TD pass after missing the past four games due to injury.
Tennessee running backs got TDs but few yards
It was a quiet night for UT’s running backs — that is, until they got near the goal line.
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The Vols rushed for only 108 yards, and mos of those were late in the fourth quarter. But DeSean Bishop scored two TDs. Peyton Lewis and Star Thomas ran for one TD each in a three-back rotation.
Vols defense scored another TD on Edrees Farooq’s pick-six
UT’s defense had a bad night on most of the stat sheet, but it also forced critical turnovers.
In the first quarter, Edrees Farooq tipped a Boley pass on a safety blitz and caught it behind the line of scrimmage for an interception. Then he returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.
It was the first interception of the sophomore’s career.
UT has scored five defensive TDs, two shy of the single-season program record set in 1971. Colton Hood scored on an interception return and a fumble return. Kaleb Beasley and Joshua Josephs each scored on a fumble return.
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In 1971, the Vols scored seven defensive TDs on six interception returns and one fumble return.
Tennessee forced two fumbles on one play
UT’s defense entered the game leading the FBS in forced fumbles, and it added two fumbles to that total during one crazy play.
Boley completed a short pass to Hardley Gilmore, who fumbled while fighting for extra yardage. Hood forced the fumble for UT. UK’s Ja’Mori Maclin scooped the ball and tried to advance it, but Boo Carter stripped it for another forced fumble.
UT linebacker Jadon Perlotte recovered that fumble at UK’s 12-yard line, and that set up a Vols TD. Perlotte, a freshman, has two fumble recoveries in the past three games.
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Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Kentucky analysis: Key takeaways from win over Kentucky
