Tennessee’s 34-6 win over Kentucky at Neyland Stadium was decisive on the field, but the postgame chatter drifted somewhere else entirely.
After the Vols rolled past the Wildcats in Saturday’s SEC matchup, backup Kentucky tight end Mikkel Skinner went on a TikTok live stream and said Tennessee was pumping in fake crowd noise during the game. Skinner said the atmosphere felt different when Tennessee scored compared with defensive third downs, and he argued the volume was too consistent for fans alone to sustain.
“It was loud, but I started peeping what Tennessee was doing, though,” Skinner said on a TikTok live stream. “When the fans on offense scored, when Tennessee scored on offense, the fans, that sh*t 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, okay, I see what’s going on.
It’s not real. If that was real then I would respect it.
But the speakers are odee, though, like I’ll give it to them. But it was just loud for hella long, and I’m like, fans cannot keep it that loud for that long.
Then I peeped it, it was just speakers pumping in fake crowd noise and music at the same time. Which is smart.
It’s smart, though.”
Skinner’s comments came after Tennessee improved its series edge over Kentucky to 87-26-9 overall and 46-11-6 at home. The Vols controlled the game from start to finish in front of the Neyland crowd.
Skinner saw limited action in the loss, playing 12 snaps off the bench. He finished with one catch for two yards and two carries for six yards. For the season, he has 10 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown, along with 10 rushing attempts for 63 yards.
The sophomore also started his career with Kentucky, which made this his first trip to Neyland Stadium. He had visited Knoxville as a recruit in March of 2023, but he never announced an offer from Tennessee or a game-day visit.
Skinner is not the first person to make that kind of claim about Neyland Stadium. The accusations have never been verified, and Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White has publicly denied them. Alabama play-by-play radio broadcaster Chris Stewart also said the same during the Tide’s loss in 2024.
In Other News...
Tennessee's Playoff Push Just Took A Brutal Hit On Defense
Tennessees playoff chase picked up a major complication in the win over Kentucky, when pass-rusher Tyree Weathersby went down with a serious knee injury and will miss the rest of the season. Weathersby has been the Vols most disruptive edge presence, leading the team with seven sacks, and his absence leaves a noticeable hole in a defense that had counted on him to help close out games down the stretch.
With three games left, Tennessee now has to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive without its top sack producer. The timing is especially tough because the margin for error is already thin, and replacing that kind of pressure off the edge is never simple this late in the year. [Read more 🡒]
Arion Carter Just Sent Tennessees Defense A Bigger Message
Arion Carters afternoon against Kentucky fit right into what Tennessee has been leaning on all season: a defense that can take over a game and make an opponent feel stuck in place. The senior linebacker was everywhere in the 34-6 win, finishing with 13 tackles, four for loss and two sacks, and the Southeastern Conference rewarded him by naming him SEC Defensive Player of the Week. It was the kind of performance that underscored just how disruptive Tennessee has been when its front seven is rolling.
The bigger takeaway for the Volunteers is that this was not an isolated flash. Tennessees defense has already shut down other top-ranked teams this season, and Carters latest statement only adds to the sense that this unit is built for the biggest stages. The next test comes against Texas A&M, where the Volunteers will find out whether that same edge can travel into another SEC spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee-LSU Just Got An Even Bigger Neyland Stage
The final regular-season game at Neyland Stadium already had enough weight attached to it, and now Tennessees matchup with LSU comes with even more stage-setting. The Volunteers will host the Tigers next weekend in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff, closing out the home slate in a game that should draw plenty of attention beyond the SEC standings.
LSUs trip to Knoxville also brings a familiar face to the storyline, with Lane Kiffin back in the mix as the Tigers coach. Tennessee last saw LSU in 2022 and handled the Tigers 40-13, while LSUs most recent visit to Knoxville came in 2017, so this one carries both recent memory and a bit of history as Neyland gets one more big afternoon before the regular season ends. [Read more 🡒]