First Scouting Report: Can Kentucky silence ‘Rocky Top’ for a second-straight year?
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Game day: Mississippi State 31, No. 12 Kentucky 17
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday night’s Kentucky-Mississippi State football game at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss.
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An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:
The opponent
No. 12 Kentucky (6-2, 4-2 SEC) will face Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) Saturday, Nov. 6, at Kroger Field.
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN2.
Coach Josh Heupel’s Volunteers had an open date Saturday (Oct. 30).
Series history
Tennessee leads 81-26-9, although Kentucky has won two of the past four meetings.
After UT won 26 in a row from 1985 through 2010, UK has won three times in the series since 2011.
Most recent meeting
Kentucky intercepted three first-half passes and returned two of them for touchdowns as the Wildcats blasted the Volunteers 34-7 at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 17, 2020.
In the second quarter, UK cornerback Kelvin Joseph returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown and linebacker Jamin Davis brought a pick back 85 yards to score a TD.
The third UK interception, by strong safety Tyrell Ajian, set up a 30-yard Matt Ruffolo field goal.
Kentucky’s victory was its first in Knoxville since 1984.
This year, the Wildcats will be going for their first back-to-back wins over the Volunteers since 1976 (7-0 in Knoxville) and 1977 (21-17 in Lexington).
Know your foe
1. Tennessee’s four wins to date are against Bowling Green, Tennessee Tech, Missouri and South Carolina.
Mizzou and Carolina were also two of the three teams UT beat in 2020 en route to a 3-7 record in Jeremy Pruitt’s ill-fated final season coaching the Volunteers.
2. In his first season as top Vol, Josh Heupel — the former Oklahoma quarterback, Missouri offensive coordinator and Central Florida head coach — has injected energy into the UT offense with an up-tempo attack.
The Volunteers stand 15th in the FBS in rushing (226.1 yards a game), 18th in scoring (37.4 points) and 21st in total offense (457.2 yards).
Tennessee’s defensive numbers are not as impressive. The Vols are 57th in the FBS against the run (allowing 144.4 yards a game), 74th in scoring defense (allowing 26.5 ppg), 80th in total defense (surrendering 394 yards a game) and 100th against the pass (249.4 yards a game allowed).
3. After Heupel passed over Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker in favor of Michigan transfer Joe Milton to start the season at quarterback, Hooker has wrested the job away — and played well.
A 6-foot-4, 218-pound product of Greensboro, N.C., Hooker is completing 68.7 percent of his throws for 1,578 yards with 17 touchdown passes vs. only two interceptions.
Considered a dual threat, Hooker has run for 417 yards and four TDs.
Hooker was the starting Virginia Tech QB against UK in the 2019 Belk Bowl, a game Kentucky rallied to win 37-30.
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 10:43 PM.
