LEXINGTON, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Eighth-ranked Tennessee tries to stay in contention for a BCS berth Saturday when it closes the regular season against Kentucky.
While the Volunteers (9-2, 5-2) need help to win the Southeastern Conference East Division title, they also can improve their chances for a BCS bowl bid by beating Kentucky.
"We are not paying attention to the BCS," Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer said. "I've been in this long enough to know that things change drastically from week to week. I do believe we are capable of being a BCS team. We are a team on the upward side of being an attractive team for the BCS."
Under a new tiebreaking format, Tennessee likely needs Georgia to lose this weekend against Georgia Tech to have a chance at qualifying for the SEC title game. Tennessee also is battling with Ohio State and Texas for the two at-large BCS berths.
Tennessee has reeled off five straight wins since back-to-back losses to Georgia and Auburn, including a 48-0 rout of Vanderbilt last week. It was the Volunteers' third straight shutout against the Commodores.
Casey Clausen completed 17-of-31 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns for the Volunteers. He had his streak without an interception snapped but not before breaking Peyton Manning's school record. Clausen broke Manning's mark of 132, extending his streak to 145 passes before he was picked off on his 19th attempt.
Mark Jones earned the SEC special teams Player of the Week award after accounting for 216 all-purpose yards against the Commodores. He returned five punts 120 yards, including a 58-yarder for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Kentucky (4-7, 1-6) has dropped three straight, including a 30-10 loss to Georgia last week. Two weeks ago, the Wildcats suffered a 28-17 setback to Vanderbilt, which snapped a 23-game SEC losing streak.
While Tennessee posted its 21st straight win against Vanderbilt, the Volunteers will be looking to extend another long streak, having won 18 straight against Kentucky.
Tennessee blanked the Wildcats, 24-0, to increase its lead in the series to 66-23-9. Jared Lorenzen completed 9-of-23 passes for 59 yards for Kentucky. Lorenzen, one of only four SEC quarterbacks to pass for more than 10,000 yards, will play his final college game Saturday.
