Remembering Lane Kiffin’s victories as Vols’ head coach: Tennessee 30, Kentucky 24
When Tennessee hosts Ole Miss Saturday at Neyland Stadium, it will mark Lane Kiffin’s return to Rocky Top as a head coach.
Kiffin, who is in his second year with the Rebels, served as Tennessee’s head coach in 2009.
He guided the Vols to a 7-6 record, including a 4-4 mark in the Southeastern Conference.
Kiffin’s last game with the Vols was a 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31, 2009.
On Jan. 12, Kiffin left Tennessee to become USC’s head coach.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Vols Wire will look at each of Kiffin’s victories as Tennessee’s head coach.
This installment will revisit the Vols’ 30-24 overtime victory over Kentucky in Lexington on Nov. 28, 2009.
The victory over the Wildcats was UT’s lone road win of the 2009 campaign.
Montario Hardesty propelled the Vols into the win column with his 20-yard touchdown run that broke a 24-24 tie and helped Tennessee keep its long winning streak against the Wildcats intact.
Kentucky had two Knoxville area high school stars play a key role in the contest.
Running back Randall Cobb (now a wide receiver for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers), who attended Alcoa High School, ran for 101 yards and a touchdown against the Vols.
During his time with the Tornadoes, Cobb was a star quarterback and defensive back. He was recruited by the Vols, West Virginia and the Wildcats. He signed with Kentucky after originally committing to play for the Mountaineers.
Wildcats’ kicker Lones Seiber ended up in Lexington after a stellar two-year career for Knoxville Central High School, where he played for head coach Joel Helton, uncle of VFL Todd Helton.
Seiber sent the 2009 tilt between the Vols and Wildcats to overtime with a 23-yard field goal goal with 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
Tennessee may have prevailed, but the day got off to a rocky start for the Vols when quarterback Jonathan Crompton was intercepted by Sam Maxwell, who returned the pass for a 56-yard touchdown with 10:41 left in the first quarter. Seiber’s PAT gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Hardesty tied the game later in the frame before Cobb put Kentucky ahead, 14-7, with seven seconds remaining.
Hardesty’s 13-yard run early in the second quarter tied the game, 14-14.
The Wildcats, however, took a 21-14 lead at halftime on Derrick Locke’s 1-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds remaining until the break.
UT gained the upper hand in the third stanza as Crompton threw a 16-yard touchdown pass and kicker Devin Mathis converted a 30-yard field goal to make it 24-21 with 44 seconds to play in the period.
Sieber’s field goal represented the only scoring in the fourth quarter.
Hardesty, who had the game-winning score in overtime, finished the contest with 39 carries for 179 yards and three scores.
Crompton was 13-of-23 for 220 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
