Kentucky player gives Tennessee fans the ultimate compliment with an attempted jab after Vols’ blowout of Wildcats
The Vols pulled away late against the Wildcats, and one Kentucky player is now taking aim at the noise in Neyland Stadium.
The Tennessee Volunteers continued their dominance over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, and they did it in front of a raucous crowd inside Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee took a 13-6 lead into the fourth quarter in what was still a close game. By the finish, it was a laugher. The Vols pulled away for a 34-6 victory, and the home crowd was loud from start to finish.
The win keeps Tennessee on the path to a possible return to the College Football Playoff. The Vols came in at No. 13, and they’re poised to move up inside the top 10 when the updated College Football Playoff rankings are revealed Tuesday night.
Neyland Stadium has been a weapon for Tennessee
Tennessee has played its best football at home this season, and that’s no accident. The crowd inside Neyland Stadium is a big reason for the Vols’ impressive showings this year, particularly in the wins over Alabama and Kentucky.
Neyland has already proven it’s one of the loudest stadiums in the entire country, if not the loudest. Opposing offenses have felt it all season, and the Wildcats felt it again Saturday.
Apparently, one Kentucky player felt it a little too much.
Kentucky TE Mikkel Stewart dredges up an old narrative
After the loss, Kentucky tight end Mikkel Stewart dredged up a tired old narrative about Neyland Stadium that just won’t die. Stewart claimed Tennessee pumps crowd noise through its speakers to make the stadium louder when the opponent has the football.
“It was loud, but I started peeping what Tennessee was doing. When Tennessee scored on offense, the fans, that shit was not nearly as loud. But when we was on third down it was loud because the speakers were pumping fake crowd noise. So, I’m like, ok, I see what’s going on. It’s not real. If that was real, then I’d respect it.
“It was just loud for hella long, and I’m like fans cannot keep it that loud for that long. But then I peeped it. It was the speakers pumping fake crowd noise and music at the same time.”
If that sounds familiar, it should. Alabama play-by-play radio announcer Chris Stewart made the same claim in 2024 during the broadcast of Tennessee’s 24-17 win over the Crimson Tide. He later walked it back in the days following the game.
This has already been addressed and debunked as nothing more than a myth.
Tennessee does play music on the speakers between plays sometimes. However, nobody has ever proven the Vols play anything more than that through the speakers, crowd noise included. It’s speculation and nothing else.
It sounds like sour grapes for losing handily
To me, this comes down to something simple. Sometimes people have to find something to grasp onto to justify a result. Losing by 28 points on the road to a rival stings, and it’s easier to point at the speakers than at the scoreboard.
But the scoreboard tells the story here. Regardless of how loud the stadium was, Tennessee proved to be the far superior team by the end of the game. That was especially true of the Vols’ defense, which was imposing and dominating all afternoon. Kentucky managed just six points, and none of them came in a fourth quarter where Tennessee took complete control.
Of course, the noise inside Neyland Stadium is real. Over 100,000 fans in orange make that place miserable for visiting offenses, and that’s exactly the point of a home-field advantage. It doesn’t need any help from a sound system.
Bottom line: Tennessee won this game with its defense and a fourth-quarter surge, not with a speaker trick. The Vols now turn their attention to Tuesday night’s rankings reveal, where they could find themselves inside the top 10 and in the thick of the College Football Playoff picture. If that happens, Neyland is only going to get louder from here.
