A group of Kentucky fans painted The Rock on campus at Tennessee on early Saturday morning. The Wildcats allegedly called the police on the Volunteers after an incident that, as far as I am aware, was not captured on camera.
It is unclear who started it and/or how long it lasted.
Although Vol Nation worked quickly to cover up the writing, they were unable to paint over the blue before sun-up. This only adds to the intensity surrounding an already electric college football matchup in Knoxville!
What is The Rock?
Most simply put, the Rock is a rock. It is a massive 98-ton dolomite boulder located at the corner of Volunteer Boulevard and Pat Summitt Street on the main campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
The boulder was unearthed during campus construction in 1966 and has been a fixture of campus life ever since. Painting the Rock has become a treasured campus tradition. Messages on the Rock are varied. It has celebrated wins, expressed opposition, remembered those we’ve lost (like Dolly Parton), shared joy and — when necessary — stood united against hate.
Tennessee also references the negative messages that have appeared on the Rock in the past.
“We must also acknowledge the moments when the Rock has included messages of hate […] As a testament to the Volunteer spirit, when hate has appeared on the Rock, the campus community has acted quickly to replace it.”
Messages and artwork displayed on the Rock are not reserved. They are not protected for any specific duration of time. It is an open forum for free expression. Content on the Rock is subject to change at any time.
You can watch a livestream from the Rock HERE. The livestream runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Kentucky fans allegedly called the police on Tennessee fans.
Those who were watching the livestream on early Saturday morning noticed a group of people approach the boulder with a few buckets of paint and paint rollers just after midnight. They immediately got to work.
However, it quickly became clear that these people were not there to paint a message of encouragement for the Volunteers. Rather, the opposite.
Four fans of the University of Kentucky, who appeared to be students, painted the Rock in a very specific shade of blue, very close to a royal blue, that corresponds to pantone 286 C. It is better known as Wildcat blue.
They painted over Tennessee’s rock with the message ‘#BBK Big Blue Rock,’ in reference to Big Blue Nation, on one side and ‘UK Stein Time,’ in reference to Kentucky head coach Will Stein, on the other. They finished the job around 5:30 a.m.
Shout out to these heroes who just got finished painting The Rock at The University of Tennessee. It now reads "Stein Time" on one side and "Big Blue Rock" on the other. pic.twitter.com/WgX39Po3lx
— Rare Rookies (@rarerookies) November 7, 2026
At some point prior to completion, the Kentucky students were approached by a group of Tennessee students. The former allegedly called the police on the latter after some kind of physical altercation around 4:00 a.m. Here is a video of the aftermath:
Paint our rock and call the cops on us wow. @OldRowKentucky pic.twitter.com/3VpGMelcfH
— Old Row Vols (@OldRowVols) November 7, 2026
I don’t know whether the police responded to the scene or if the Volunteers dispersed. Either way, the Wildcats were able to finish their painting. But it did not last long. ‘Stein Time’ was covered-up by sun-up on Saturday morning.
The entire Rock was painted over with a blanket of white by 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. It appeared as though a campus worker was called to paint over the Kentucky blue.
Is this a bad omen for the Wildcats? Only time will tell. The Volunteers will have extra motivation to