Kentucky's playoff case takes a hit in Tennessee rout

Kentucky trailed by seven points with the fourth quarter about to start Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. Then Tennessee pulled away in a hurry. Read more: Kentucky's playoff case takes a hit in Tennessee rout

The Volunteers scored three touchdowns in the final period and beat Kentucky 34-6 in front of 101,915 fans. Tennessee improved to 7-2 and 4-2 in the SEC. Kentucky, ranked sixth nationally, still fell to 7-2 and 5-2.

This site previewed Saturday's game as the biggest test yet of Kentucky's playoff case. The Wildcats arrived off a six-game winning streak, but Tennessee had already won five straight in the series, including last season's 56-34 romp. Make that six.

Kentucky coach Will Stein had called Neyland Stadium one of the most hostile environments in college football before kickoff. On Saturday night, it looked the part.

Tennessee led just 13-6 after three quarters. Daune Morris's 66-yard touchdown run gave the Volunteers a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Kentucky answered with two field goals of its own, trimming the margin to 10-6 by halftime, and Tennessee's second field goal made it 13-6 after three.

So the Volunteers broke it open. Faizon Brandon found Mike Matthews for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 20-6. After that, DeSean Bishop ran in two more scores from 5 yards out. Bishop finished with 109 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, pushing him past 1,000 rushing yards for a second straight season.

Related: Kentucky's playoff case faces its biggest test at Tennessee

Turnovers erase Kentucky's edge

Kentucky actually won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 35 minutes and 17 seconds to Tennessee's 24 minutes and 43 seconds. The turnovers were also the difference.

Related: South Carolina stuns No. 11 Tennessee at the wire

Quarterback Kenny Minchey completed 26 of 34 passes for 224 yards. However, Kentucky turned the ball over three times, two lost fumbles and one interception, and Tennessee turned it over zero times.

In fact, linebacker Arion Carter made the Wildcats pay for every one of them, finishing with 13 tackles and two sacks.

Before kickoff, the committee chair, Hunter Yurachek, had said Tennessee's resume still lacked quality wins to climb past 13th. He pointed to the win over Alabama as not enough on its own. Beating the No. 6 team removes that complaint.

Tennessee's win was its second this season over a marquee opponent. It followed a 16-point victory over the No. 5 Alabama team in the initial playoff poll. Kentucky, whose six-game winning streak is over, plays at Florida next. Finally, Bishop's second touchdown run made it 34-6, and that is how it stayed.