Three takeaways from Kentucky football's loss in thrilling shootout vs. Tennessee

LEXINGTON — Kentucky football dropped its third consecutive game with a 45-42 loss to Tennessee.

The Wildcats had a chance to pull off a comeback in the thrilling shootout but could not convert a fourth-and-10 from the Tennessee 38-yard line with 29 seconds left. That play came after Kentucky converted a fourth-and-24 play earlier in the drive after coach Mark Stoops was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing a missed facemask call from the officiating crew.

Had the facemask been called, Kentucky would have had a first-and-10 play at the Tennessee 36-yard line with just more than a minute remaining and three timeouts.

The loss dropped UK to 6-3 on the season and ended the team's hopes of reaching a New Year's Six bowl.

Kentucky defense has disappeared

Remember when Kentucky's defense held its first six opponents to 28 points or less? Or when that unit showed impressive resolve by keeping opponents from scoring after offensive turnovers?

The Wildcat defense has looked nothing like that group during a three-game losing streak in which each of its opponents scored at least 30 points.

A week after allowing Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers to set an SEC completion percentage record, Kentucky's defense looked even worse against Tennessee. The Volunteers scored on touchdown passes of 75 yards and 72 yards on their first two drives. Five of Tennessee's six scoring drives lasted less than a minute, not even including the 56-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Yes, injuries have taken a toll on Kentucky's defense, but that alone cannot explain the struggles.

The Wildcats have played most of the three losses without two of their three starting defensive linemen. Senior nose guard Marquan McCall dressed for the Tennessee game but did not play. He has now missed the last four games. Starting outside linebacker Jordan Wright was also unavailable Saturday.

None of those injuries have come in the secondary though. Considering Mark Stoops built his reputation coaching defensive backs, the struggles of that position are all the more concerning.

In the last two games, Rogers and Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker combined to complete 51 of 59 passes for 660 yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky's defense.

"We’re all big boys," Stoops said. "We can all handle the criticism and things that come with it, but there are injuries. There are some with inexperience. We’ve had an awful lot of secondary guys that are playing in the NFL right now. I mean, a boatload. We’ve got to bring these guys along."

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Will Levis returns to form

After some early season struggles, Kentucky quarterback Will Levis appeared to have turned a corner with back-to-back strong performances against LSU and Georgia, but he returned from Kentucky's bye week with his worst showing of the season at Mississippi State last week.

Levis bounced back in a major way against Tennessee, completing 31 of 49 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 15 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Levis even caught a 15-yard pass from freshman wide receiver Chauncey Magwood on a trick play to set up one of his touchdown runs.

"Definitely when you have a game like I did last week, it’s motivation," Levis said. "Just try to take it to the next level. I think I have a good work ethic, but regardless of how good your work ethic is, it can always be better. I just took the approach of ... what I thought I’d done enough, just do a little bit extra. Got to continue doing that for the rest of the season."

While the blame for the loss rests solely with Kentucky's defense, Levis did make a couple of mistakes that contributed to the defeat.

Just before halftime, Levis posted consecutive poor passes to allow Tennessee to regain possession with 16 seconds remaining. The Volunteers needed just three plays to set up a 43-yard field goal at the buzzer.

With Kentucky trailing 30-28 in the third quarter, Levis threw an interception that was returned 56 yards for a touchdown. After the Kentucky defense made just its third stop of the game late in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a chance to regain the lead, Levis was sacked twice, including on a fourth-down conversion attempt.

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Kentucky's historic struggles against Tennessee continue

While Kentucky has a convincing argument to be considered at least third in the SEC East pecking order now, the program has failed to take advantage of Tennessee's struggles over the last decade.

With the loss, Kentucky has failed to record consecutive wins against Tennessee since 1976 and 1977. Kentucky fell to 2-7 against Tennessee in the Mark Stoops era and 26-82-9 against the Volunteers all-time.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky vs. Tennessee football: Cats lose in shootout