Kentucky vs. Tennessee by the numbers
No. 19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2) at No. 3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0)
6 p.m. CDT Saturday (ESPN)
Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee
4 Games with multiple TD receptions for Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt this season. He’s the only player in the nation who has more than three such games in 2022.
4 Victories over ranked teams in the past six games for Tennessee, making 2022 the first time that the Volunteers have defeated four ranked teams in a single regular season since 1998. Tennessee defeated No. 17 Pitt 34-27 in overtime on Sept. 10, No. 20 Florida 38-33 on Sept. 24, No. 25 LSU 40-13 on Oct. 8 and No. 3 Alabama 52-49 on Oct. 15. In 1998, the Vols defeated No. 17 Syracuse 34-33, No. 2 Florida 20-17, No. 7 Georgia 22-3 and No. 10 Arkansas 28-24 while winning all 11 of their regular-season games.
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6 Consecutive games with at least one 100-yard receiver for Tennessee. During the streak, Jalin Hyatt has had three 100-yard games, Bru McCoy two and Cedric Tillman and Squirrel White one apiece. One player has had a 100-yard receiving game against Kentucky this season. Ole Miss WR Malik Heath had six receptions for 100 yards in the Rebels’ 22-19 win over the Wildcats on Oct. 1.
6 TD passes for Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker in two games against Kentucky. Hooker completed 12-of-22 passes for 110 yards with two TDs and no interceptions in Virginia Tech’s37-30 loss to Kentucky in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 31, 2019, and 15-of-20 passes for 316 yards with four TDs and no interceptions in Tennessee’s 45-42 victory over the Wildcats on Nov. 6, 2021.
10 Consecutive Tennessee games have featured at least 30 points for the Volunteers, the longest streak in school history. Tennessee’s streak is the 13th of at least 10 games with 30 points in SEC history. The conference record is 34 in a row by Alabama across the 2019 through 2021 seasons.
11 Consecutive opponents have failed to reach 400 yards of total offense against Kentucky. Tennessee leads the nation in total offense with an average of 571.7 yards per game. The most recent team to reach 400 yards against the Wildcats was Tennessee, which had 612 in its 45-42 victory last season.
13 Receptions for 381 yards and seven TDs in the past two games for Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt. Those two games would rank Hyatt 15th in receiving yards and tied for third in TD receptions in the conference for the season. Overall, Hyatt has 40 receptions for 769 yards and 12 TDs. He ranks second in receptions and first in receiving yards and TD receptions in the SEC.
14 Victories without a loss for Tennessee under coach Josh Heupel when the Volunteers are ahead at halftime. Tennessee is 0-6 under Heupel when it hasn’t led at halftime.
19 Consecutive Tennessee games have featured at least one TD pass by QB Hendon Hooker, the longest streak in school history. In the only game he’s played at Tennessee without a TD pass, Hooker threw only once. In the past 10 games, Hooker has thrown at least two TD passes in each.
24 Years since Tennessee had an 8-0 record, a mark the Volunteers would own again if they defeat Kentucky. Tennessee won all 13 of its games in the 1998 season on its way to the BCS national championship. This is the eighth season during the SEC era in which the Volunteers have won their first seven games, joining 1938, 1939, 1940, 1951, 1956, 1969 and 1998. Only in 1969 did Tennessee fail to go to 8-0. In 1969, Ole Miss spoiled the Vols’ perfect record with a 38-0 victory on Nov. 15 in Jackson, Mississippi.
32 Consecutive games with a reception for Kentucky WR Tayvion Robinson, who has 114 catches for 1,680 yards and 11 TDs during the streak. The first 26 games of the streak occurred while Robinson played for Virginia Tech.
34 Victories for Tennessee, four victories for Kentucky and one tie when the Volunteers are ranked when playing the Wildcats. The highest-ranked Tennessee upended by Kentucky was No. 12 in the AP Poll when the Wildcats won 20-6 in 1957.
41 Consecutive losses for Kentucky when playing a top 10 SEC opponent on the road. The losing streak started after the Wildcats upended No. 1 Ole Miss 27-21 in Jackson, Mississippi, on Sept. 26, 1964. Kentucky has beaten a top-10 opponent on the road since then, but the victory came in a non-conference game when the Wildcats downed No. 4 Penn State 24-20 in State College on Oct. 1, 1977.
71 Years since the previous time the Kentucky-Tennessee game featured two ranked teams. No. 1 Tennessee defeated No. 9 Kentucky 28-0 on Nov. 24, 1951. The Wildcats and Volunteers have squared off 85 times in the AP Poll era, and that’s one of the two games that featured two ranked teams. On Nov. 25, 1950, No. 9 Tennessee defeated No. 3 Kentucky 7-0.
82 Victories for Tennessee, 26 victories for Kentucky and nine ties in the Volunteers-Wildcats series. Tennessee has played and beaten Kentucky more times than it has any other opponent. Kentucky has played Tennessee more times than it has any other opponent. The teams have squared off annually since the 1919 season, except for the 1943 campaign, when neither school fielded a team.
351 Points have been scored by Tennessee in 2022, the most in the nation and tied for the third-most by an SEC team seven games into a season. Alabama had 375 points seven games into the 2018 season, and Florida had 366 points seven games into the 1996 season. LSU also scored 351 points in the first seven games of the 2019 season.
702 Passing yards, on average, in Tennessee games this season. The Volunteers lead the SEC in passing offense by gaining an average of 369 yards per game and rank last in the SEC in passing defense by yielding an average of 333 yards per game. Nationally, Tennessee is second to Washington in passing offense and next-to-last to Ohio in passing defense.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.