5 Observations: Flights 24, No. 11 Kentucky 7

For the second time this season, the Flights thwarted a ranked opponent. This time, it happened in front of a crowd of spectators of the stadium of Neyland.

Tennessee (5-5, 2-4 LP) beat Kentucky number 11 (7-3, 5-3 SEC) by a score of 24-7 on Saturday afternoon. The Air Force's defense tamed the Wildcats offense, and the Tennessee offense left plenty of room for a strong Kentucky defense.

The Vols forced a few turnovers, collected five sacks (four from Darrell Taylor) and totaled nine tackles for a loss to the Wildcats while placing them just 262 yards. The Tennessee attack lasted more than 400 meters.

The Kentucky defeat series at Knoxville continues. The Wildcats have not won at Neyland since 1984, and Kentucky never really closed the mark this afternoon.

Here are our five most important recipes from Tennessee's Biggest Kentucky win # 11.

Exciting start

Flights have been undermined by slow starts in most of their games this season. But that was not the case on Saturday and Tennessee also put an exclamation mark at the end of the first half.

Tennessee led 17-0 at halftime after a pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Marquez Callaway (39 yards) at the end of the allotted time. Thefts totaled 241 yards in the first half, and Guarantano averaged 21.9 yards per completion over eight completions in the first half.

Kentucky's offense was stifled in the first half by UT's defense. The Vols limited the Wildcats to 68 yards offensively and 2.1 yards per game. Benny Snell was held in check and accumulated less than 40 meters in the first half.

The Vols needed a good start against a home-ranked team, and that's what they did on Saturday.

Game stop of the race

Kentucky was one of the top teams in the SEC for Saturday's game. But the Vols absolutely shut them down during the match.

Benny Snell was the SEC best forward before Saturday's game, but the Vols held him in check for most of the contest. He had 81 yards in 20 races and Tennessee kept the Wildcats offense just 77 yards in 35 attempts. Kentucky has a derisory average of 2.2 yards per race. Tennessee, meanwhile, has gained 215 rushing yards in 40 races.

Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson of Tennessee tried to beat them, and although the quarterback from JUCO's transfer made good shots, he was not consistent enough to decisively influence the defense of the flights. He finished 21 of his 34 goals for 172 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Guarantano breaks a record

Jarrett Guarantano was efficient all season and he broke a record on Saturday.

According to the Tennessee Statistics Department, Guarantano broke the UT's school record for most consecutive passes without launching an interception. In the third quarter, he completed his 144th consecutive pass of the season without breaking a pass, and he surpassed the Casey Clausen record he set in 2003 with 143 consecutive passes without a shot at.

Guarantano made one of his best games of his career in Tennessee on Saturday, finishing 12 of his 20 pass attempts for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

Big, big games

Kentucky only came into play on Saturday, allowing only 3.3 games per game to opponents who scored 20 yards or more. Flights erase this average.

Tennessee had 20 yards or more on seven different games on Saturday. Jordan Murphy scored 59 yards, Ty Chandler 29 yards and Tim Jordan 22 yards. Guarantano also completed passes of 25, 34, 38 and 39 yards in the afternoon.

The Flights struggled to accumulate several yards in attack this season, but they did it against Auburn earlier this season. And they did it again Saturday against Kentucky.

Bol hopes to stay alive

Thanks to this victory, the Vols have found a way to get five wins this season and have only one victory to win to qualify for bowl shot with two games to play in the season.

Tennessee have improved to 5-5 10 times this season, and they need to defeat at least one of their last two opponents in November to go bowling. The Flights have games against Missouri at Knoxville and Vanderbilt in Nashville to close the 2018 season.

Jeremy Pruitt will be the first coach of the Flights since Derek Dooley to play a game of petanque in his first year as head coach of Tennessee, if his team can succeed this year.