The Tennessee Volunteers (4-4) travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (6-2) in what is a massive game for each team. Here are the three keys to a Tennessee win.
By Steve Wright
1 – Hendon Hooker must play well
It may have taken head coach Josh Heupel a little longer than necessary to decide that Hendon Hooker was his man at quarterback but Hooker has been fantastic as of late. Hooker averages around 10 yards per pass – a stat showing he is challenging defenses – and he has at least two touchdowns in six of the Vols last seven games. His performance against Alabama – while carrying an injury no less – was outstanding and if he continues to make the right throws and not make mistakes then Tennessee will move the ball on a Kentucky defense that isn’t creating turnovers.
2 – Take the ball away
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is coming off of his worst game since transferring to Lexington from Penn State. The Wildcats seemed to have shaken off their early season turnover issues, but they gave up the ball four times to Mississippi State last time out. There were three picks thrown by Levis included in that number, with a couple of decisions that were just plain ugly that were punished by the Bulldogs’ defense. Levis has a strong arm and if he gets into a rhythm he will be a problem, so pressuring him early and forcing mistakes will be key here.
3 – Hold Kentucky under 150 yards rushing
The Tennessee defense has given up almost 1,100 yards of total offense over its last two outings. Part of this can be attributed to the speed that the offense works – the defense is on the field a lot – but part of it that the defense just isn’t working all that well. Kentucky has one of the top rushers in the SEC in Chris Rodriguez and he will be looking to make a statement after he was used (bizarrely) sparingly against Mississippi State last Saturday. If the Wildcats get to 200 yards on the ground they will be a tough out, while if Tennessee can snarl up their running game for under 150 they will be in with a chance.
Be the first to comment