It was a tale of two halves today, with playoff implications hanging in the balance.

Despite the slow start, the Vols used a big second half en route to defeating the Wildcats 34-6.

Arion Carter led the way on defense with 13 total tackles, four of those serving as tackles for loss, while also adding two sacks. Desean Bishop used a big second half himself to finish with 109 yards and two touchdown rushes.

“Elite performance by him,” Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel said. “The sacks changed the game. And 13 tackles, flying around, playing violent, disruptive, and locked into his keys. An elite performance by him.”

The first drive from both teams resulted in punts, and the first form of action on either side came after an arm-punt from Kenny Minchey into the endzone, intercepted by Dejuan Lane. The turnover was Minchey’s second interception of the season.

The Vols offense was unable, though, to add any points after the turnover as Jackson Ross once again was brought out to punt.

After another defensive stop, the Vols (7-2, 4-2 SEC) offense was able to finally cash in a score, thanks to a 66-yard rush to the house for Daune Morris, giving the Vols an early 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats (7-2, 5-2 SEC) responded with a long drive ending in a 43-yard field goal from Adam Zouagui to cut the score to 7-3.

A big gain from quarterback George MacIntyre to Radarious Jackson for 36 yards set the Vols up for a field goal of their own on the next possession. A 48-yard field goal from Cooper Ranvier moved the lead back to a touchdown.

Before the end of the first half, the Wildcats added one more field goal, but that was their last form of offense for the rest of the night.

The entire third quarter saw more of the same from both teams, as only three more points were added from either side. Ranvier nailed his third kick of the game at this point, pushing the lead to 13-6.

After a strip-sack fumble from Qua Moss gave the Vols the ball at the Wildcats 36-yard line, the Vols were finally able to cash in on a beautifully designed jet sweep. Faizon Brandon was under center during the play and was able to draw the defense away from Mike Matthews, and he ran 24 yards for the score.

“That position in the middle of the football field, to be able to cover the way that you need to, when you’re in the slot defending that,” Heupel said. “You got to defend the entire field, and he does an elite job in coverage.”

The Vols defense forced a turnover on downs on the next Kentucky possession, and after a 34-yard connection from MacIntyre to Braylon Staley, Bishop was able to find the end zone for a score.

By this point, the game was all but over, as the Vols were in total control of the matchup. Bishop still added one more score after another turnover on downs as the clock expired.

“There were some subtle adjustments, a couple of things that we added for the second half,” Heupel said. “And then there was some execution, and that’s the box. It’s the running back seeing it and getting to the right spot. So all of those things, it’s a game of small margins.”

From a defensive matchup with minimal scoring to a domination in the fourth quarter by the Vols, the team will be riding all the momentum as they head to College Station for a matchup with the Aggies next week.

Source: Yahoo Sports