DeSean Bishop rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns, Daune Morris scored on a long run and No. 13 Tennessee continued its home domination of No. 6 Kentucky with a convincing 34-6 victory on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play at Knoxville, Tenn.
Mike Matthews turned a short flip into a score and the Volunteers (7-2, 4-2 SEC) recorded their fourth win in five games. Bishop carried 25 times while registering his second straight 1,000-yard season. His season total sits at 1,066.
Tennessee star Arion Carter had 13 tackles (four for loss) and two sacks in a stellar performance. Qua Moss forced two fumbles as the Vols forced three turnovers and racked up eight tackles for loss.
Kentucky (7-2, 5-2) never reached the end zone while having a six-game winning streak snapped. The Wildcats have lost 20 of their past 21 games in Knoxville.
Kenny Minchey completed 26 of 34 passes for 224 yards and one interception for Kentucky, which scored its fewest points of the season.
It was a four-point margin at halftime before Cooper Ranvier kicked a 39-yard field goal to cap the first possession of the second half to give Tennessee a 13-6 lead.
The Volunteers scored a pivotal touchdown with Faizon Brandon in at quarterback. Matthews came in motion from the right to catch a forward flip from Brandon and he sprinted to the left and easily scored on a 24-yard play to give Tennessee a 14-point lead with 13:34 remaining in the game.
Bishop’s 5-yard scoring run with 9:45 remaining made it 27-6. Tennessee added on some crucial style points for the College Football Playoff competition when Bishop scored from the 5 with 1:06 remaining.
The Volunteers struck first when they handed the ball off to Morris on the first play of a drive and there was a big hole up the middle and he raced 66 yards for a score with 56 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Adam Zouagai booted a 43-yard field goal with 9:53 left in the second quarter to get Kentucky on the board. Cooper was good from 48 yards out to give Tennessee a 10-3 lead before Zouagai kicked a 25-yarder with nine seconds left as the Wildcats trailed 10-6 at halftime.