Blue Preview: Your one-click guide to No. 18 Kentucky’s SEC East game vs. Tennessee
No. 18 Kentucky vs. Tennessee
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Kroger Field (capacity 61,000).
TV: ESPN2 (play-by-play, Beth Mowins; analysis, Kirk Morrison; sideline, Dawn Davenport).
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1.
Satellite Radio: XM Channel 192, Sirius Channel 99, Internet Channel 963
Records: Kentucky (6-2, 4-2 SEC); Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC).
Series history: Tennessee leads 81-26-9.
Last meeting: Kentucky beat Tennessee 34-7 at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 17, 2020.
Line: Kentucky is favored by 3.5 points.
The story line
After turning in its worst performance of the season in a dispiriting 31-17 loss at Mississippi State, Kentucky seeks to recapture positive momentum by doing something the Wildcats have not done in 44 years: Defeating Tennessee for a second-consecutive season.
The number to watch
Kentucky’s rushing total. Over the past two games, UK’s normally punishing ground attack has largely come to a halt. The Wildcats were held to 51 rushing yards in a 30-13 loss at No. 1 Georgia, then ran for only 66 yards in last Saturday’s 31-17 defeat at Mississippi State. To take pressure off Cats’ quarterback Will Levis and to keep Tennessee’s potent offense off the field, Kentucky needs to get its running game reestablished.
The big threat
Hendon Hooker. The ex-Virginia Tech quarterback who Kentucky defeated in the 2019 Belk Bowl has rejuvenated his career at Tennessee. A dual-threat QB of the type that has traditionally confounded UK defenses, the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Hooker is completing 68.7 percent of his throws for 1,578 yards with 17 touchdown passes vs. only two interceptions. Meanwhile, the Greensboro, N.C., product has run for 417 yards and four TDs, too. Hooker will be a big test for a UK defense that has been thinned out by injuries.
On the spot
Will Levis. The Kentucky starting QB had a rough go — 17-for-28 passing for only 150 yards with one TD toss and three interceptions — in the loss at Mississippi State. Levis misfired on at least two throws when UK receivers appeared to be open for touchdowns. Of his three picks, two came when Kentucky was driving and the third led to a short-field MSU touchdown. It is vital for the Wildcats’ chances to close the 2021 season out in a positive manner that Levis play better.
The mood
Is apprehensive. What had been a joyride of a season through Kentucky’s 6-1 start took an abrupt detour with a disappointing showing in Starkville. With perennial UK nemesis Tennessee looming, this will be an anxious week for the Big Blue Nation.
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 10:33 AM.
