Rejuvenated Tennessee will test Kentucky’s resolve after two tough losses
There’s not a lot of time for Kentucky to dwell on its second straight defeat, which was by far its worst effort of the season. It welcomes rival Tennessee to Kroger Field on Saturday.
A sellout crowd will await the Volunteers, who — like Mississippi State — will approach this year’s contest with extra motivation after suffering a butt-kicking in last season’s showdown. Kentucky in 2020 defeated UT 34-7 for its first win in Knoxville since 1984.
These orange-clad travelers will look a lot different, though. They’re coached by Josh Heupel, who has quickly re-engineered the Vols’ offense in year one after coming north from Central Florida. Their quarterback is Hendon Hooker, a former starter at Virginia Tech who has already thrown for more yards (1,578) and touchdowns (17) than he did in any of his seasons with the Hokies. Tennessee ranks in the top 20, nationally, at 37.4 points per game. Kentucky will have its hands full after it “played like crap” — Stoops’ words — in Starkville.
“They’re playing at an extremely high tempo offensively,” Stoops said. “They have some difference-makers at wide receiver, and obviously the stress they put on you with the tempo and spacing and things of that nature. They’re playing extremely hard defensively. Overall, a much improved team.”
Kentucky will have the crowd behind it, and the sting of consecutive defeats pushing it, but its overall health status remains murky. Nose tackle Marquan McCall wasn’t listed on the depth chart. Left tackle Dare Rosenthal and Jordan Wright both went down with injuries at Mississippi State; they were listed on the chart but in response to questions regarding the availability of all three, Stoops offered the same refrain as last week.
“We’ll see,” he said during his weekly Monday news conference.
McCall’s return would be a boon for a unit that has been gashed for 400-plus yards each of its last three outings, though it wouldn’t inherently address the Cats’ biggest defensive issues in Starkville — missed tackles and misplacement. They presented themselves often, but not exclusively, from the cornerback position, contributing to a record-setting performance by Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers.
Stoops, who rose up the ladder as a defensive backs coach, two days later still looked aghast at the sophomore’s 36 of 39 completion rate against his secondary.
“You can’t let people do that to ya, that’s for sure,” Stoops said. “Not a good feeling. Very frustrated. It boils down to making competitive plays. They’re going to make some. We need to make ours.”
Kentucky’s run game was also a non-factor for the second straight week. The Wildcats have managed just 51 and 66 yards on the ground in their losses; they averaged 214.1 in their six-game win streak to open the year. Tennessee gives up 144.4 rushing yards per game, good for seventh in the league (Georgia and Mississippi State are in the top three along with Alabama).
Chris Rodriguez, UK’s leading rusher and No. 2 in the SEC with 809 total rushing yards, was dealing with an “issue” last week, but it wasn’t the wrist problem that bothered him earlier this season. It was unclear from Stoops’ comments if the issue is an injury or another type of concern.
“I’m not gonna sit up here and talk about everything,” Stoops said. “These young men go through a lot. They go through a lot of practices and we do a lot of hitting and things happen throughout the week. He was dealing with an issue last week. I don’t need to make excuses for Chris, but he was not at full strength.”
Despite two weeks to prepare, Kentucky wasn’t physically ready for what it got from Mississippi State. It now has just a few days to regroup before welcoming the Volunteers, themselves coming off a bye week. How much resolve UK has will be known after Saturday night. At least, for the first time in almost a month, it’ll be at home, where it hasn’t dropped a game yet.
“We’re not perfect, but I have a lot of confidence in the leadership of this team,” Stoops said. “We’ll respond back. There’s no reason to feel sorry for ourselves. Take a good look around the league, take a look at the standings. This league is brutal. No one’s gonna feel sorry for ya. There’s not too many teams in the league with a much better record than us.
“There’s one or two that are absolutely elite, and the rest of us are scrapping.”
Notes
▪ Linebacker Trevin Wallace, a true freshman, was named SEC Freshman of the Week after recording a career-high 12 tackles, including two for a loss, at Mississippi State.
▪ UK’s Nov. 13 game at Vanderbilt has been scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on ESPN2. The Commodores are having a “Black Out” for the game.
▪ Sophomore linebacker D’Eryk Jackson, who suffered an injury in the spring, was dressed for the Mississippi State game. Stoops said he wasn’t ready to play last week but left open the possibility of a return this season.
▪ Kentucky’s sellout for the Tennessee game is its third straight, the first time that’s happened since the 2009 season.
Saturday
Tennessee at No. 18 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
Records: UT 4-4 (2-3 SEC); UK 6-2 (4-2 SEC)
TV: ESPN2
