First Scouting Report: At Tennessee, UK will try to do something it hasn’t in 58 years
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Game day: No. 22 Kentucky 27, No. 16 Mississippi State 17
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
After an open date on Oct. 22, No. 22 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) will travel to Knoxville to face No. 6 Tennessee (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at Neyland Stadium (seating capacity 101,915).
The time of the game and television information will be announced Monday, Oct. 17, by the Southeastern Conference office.
Coach Josh Heupel’s Volunteers defeated No. 3 Alabama 52-49 in an epic shootout Saturday afternoon.
Before playing UK, UT will face UT Martin on Saturday, Oct. 22, at noon in Knoxville in a game that will be telecast by the SEC Network.
Series history
Tennessee leads 82-26-9. The Volunteers have beaten Kentucky in 34 of the past 37 meetings between the teams.
UK Coach Mark Stoops is 2-7 vs. Tennessee.
UT Coach Josh Heupel is 1-0 vs. Kentucky.
After beating the Volunteers 34-7 in Neyland Stadium in 2020, the Wildcats will be seeking their first back-to-back wins over UT in Knoxville since winning 12-10 in 1962 and 12-7 in 1964.
Most recent meeting
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns and Alontae Taylor returned a Will Levis interception 56 yards for a TD to spark UT to a 45-42 win over UK on Nov. 6, 2021, at Kroger Field in Lexington.
Know your foe
1. Going into Saturday’s game with No. 3 Alabama, Tennessee’s up-tempo offensive attack has been strafing foes. Josh Heupel’s offense entered Saturday No. 1 in the FBS in total offense (547.8 yards a game), No. 2 in scoring (46.8 points a game), No. 7 in passing (340.4 yards) and No. 23 in rushing (207.4).
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2. Kentucky has a long history with Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. In addition to last season’s shootout with Hooker and UT in Lexington, Kentucky also went against the QB in the 2019 Belk Bowl when he was still at Virginia Tech.
In UK’s 37-30 come-from-behind win over the Hokies, Hooker completed 12 of 22 passes for 110 yards with two touchdown throws and no interceptions. Hooker also ran 12 times for 50 yards.
For his career against Kentucky, Hooker is 27-of-44 passing for 426 yards with six TD tosses and no interceptions. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound product of Greensboro, N.C., has carried the ball 23 times vs. UK for 91 yards.
3. In a series that has traditionally been played in late November, is it to Kentucky’s advantage that it is playing Tennessee in October?
Well ...
In its football series with UT, there are not many metrics that favor UK. However, the Wildcats have fared quite well against the Volunteers in the very small sample size of games played in the month of October.
The Cats are 4-2 vs. the Vols all-time in October. UK beat UT 56-0 on Oct. 21, 1893, in Knoxville; the Cats bested the Vols 17-0 on Oct. 16, 1909, in Lexington; Kentucky prevailed over Tennessee 29-26 on Oct. 28, 2017, in Lexington; and the Wildcats blasted the Volunteers 34-7 on Oct. 17, 2020, in Knoxville.
Tennessee’s two victories over Kentucky in October came in 1908, 7-0 in Knoxville; and in 2015, 52-21 in Lexington.
This story was originally published October 15, 2022 at 11:01 PM.
