Kentucky tight end Mikkel Skinner alleged that Tennessee used artificial crowd noise during the Wildcats' 34-6 loss at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 7, 2026.
"I ain't going to lie, it was loud. But I started peeping what Tennessee was doing. The fans, when Tennessee scored on offense, that (expletive) was not nearly as loud. But when we were on third down, it was loud because the speakers was pumping fake crowd noise," Skinner said in an Instagram video.
Kentucky, the least penalized team in the conference entering the game, was flagged for seven penalties, all on offense. Only two were procedural — an illegal formation before a punt and a false start on a third-and-2 at the start of the third quarter.
When contacted on Nov. 9, the University of Tennessee declined to comment. Tim Berry, broadcast engineer for the Vol Radio Network for 34 years, posted on Facebook that there was "NO crowd noise piped in to Neyland stadium. Total fabrication and BS."
Tennessee fans set a scientifically verified stadium record of 130.3 decibels during a 26-10 win over Alabama on Oct. 17, 2026, according to UT Health Sciences Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Similar accusations surfaced in 2024 when Alabama broadcaster Chris Stewart claimed the Vols manufactured noise in a 24-17 loss on Oct. 19, 2024; Tennessee officials denied those claims as well.
A Knox News investigation later in the 2024 season found no evidence to support the fake‑noise allegations.
