First Scouting Report: Can Kentucky finally silence ‘Rocky Top’ at Tennessee?
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Game day: Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 2
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:
The opponent
Kentucky (1-2) will face Tennessee (2-1) on Saturday (Oct. 17) at Neyland Stadium. The game will kick off at noon and be telecast by the SEC Network.
After SEC East victories at South Carolina (31-27) and over Missouri (35-12), Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s Volunteers had an eight-game winning streak snapped with a 44-21 loss at Georgia on Saturday.
Series history
Tennessee leads 81-25-9 and has won 33 of the past 35 meetings with Kentucky, including 17 straight at Neyland Stadium.
Most recent meeting
On a fourth-and-goal from the Tennessee 2-yard line late in the fourth quarter, UT’s Daniel Bituli and Ja’Quain Blakely combined to stop Kentucky star Lynn Bowden for no gain on a read-option play with 1:17 left to preserve the Volunteers’ 17-13 victory over the Wildcats at Kroger Field on Nov. 9, 2019.
Down 13-3 at halftime, Tennessee pulled starting quarterback Brian Maurer to start the second half in favor of Jarrett Guarantano. The move rallied the Vols as UT wide receivers Marquez Callaway (17 yards) and Josh Palmer (12) each made contested touchdown catches of Guarantano passes in the third quarter.
Know your foe
1. Going into Saturday’s meeting with Georgia, Tennessee had not turned the football over in 2020. The Volunteers turned it over three times, two lost fumbles and an interception, in the loss at Georgia.
2. One of the heroes of UT’s come-from-behind win over UK last season, Jarrett Guarantano has reclaimed the Volunteers’ starting quarterback job. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound redshirt senior was completing 61.1 percent of his passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions going into the Georgia game.
In Athens, Guarantano went 23-of-36 passing for 215 yards with two touchdowns and one pick.
3. Tennessee Coach Jeremy Pruitt has a bevy of aides with UK ties on his staff.
Derrick Ansley, who coached cornerbacks for Mark Stoops from 2013-15, is the UT defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Jimmy Brumbaugh, who coached the defensive line for Stoops from 2013-16, is the co-defensive coordinator and D-line coach at Tennessee.
Tee Martin, who coached wide receivers for Joker Phillips from 2010-11, is assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for Pruitt.
Clay Bollinger, a 2017 UK graduate, is the director of recruiting content for Tennessee.
This story was originally published October 10, 2020 at 11:13 PM.
