The Kentucky Wildcats might have been the Tennessee Volunteers’ punching bag over the past three decades. The Wildcats might have had a terrible offense. They might have been ripe for plucking.
By Matt Zemek
Yet, even if all of those things were true, the Vols still had to take advantage of their situation, and there was no guarantee they would… not after a poor offensive performance against the lowly Charlotte 49ers… and not after blowing a 12-point lead to South Carolina the previous week.
Very little can be taken for granted this season with the Vols… and for that matter, very little can be taken for granted this season in college football.
Pitt is on the verge of winning the ACC Coastal Division. Northwestern has already won the Big Ten West. The Pac-12 title game could be Utah or Arizona State versus Washington State.
In fact, the very reality that Kentucky was in position to make a New Year’s Six bowl underscored the value of pouncing on opportunities when they existed. So what if Kentucky looked ugly? It still won. It still filled the vacuum in the SEC left by Auburn, Mississippi State and South Carolina, three teams which underperformed relative to expectations.
Tennessee needed to turn that kind of dynamic in its favor against Kentucky. It was no sure thing.
The Vols answered the call. Their defense swarmed to the ball. They passed the ball decisively and aggressively in the first half. They acted like a team intent on not merely winning, but dominating. The offense slacked off in the second half, but the defense said, “We got this.” You would not be wrong or unfair to downgrade the value of a win over Kentucky, but the first story from that UK game is how well Tennessee played. It’s an undeniable step forward. Now, can UT keep going in the right direction?
1 – MORE AIR STRIKES
The Vols’ first-half passing against a very good Kentucky defense this past weekend shows that they should be able to have even more success throwing against Missouri. Jarrett Guarantano needs to see what he did well before halftime and study what he failed to do after halftime. He got away with a few throws against UK. If he can polish the rough edges versus Mizzou, Tennessee should post a high number of points, possibly in the 30s, which might be needed against Drew Lock. Speaking of Lock…
2 – LOCKDOWN CHECKDOWN
The Vols might not be able to “get home” and sack Lock a bunch of times, but they need to turn him into a checkdown thrower who can’t stretch the field. Kentucky, interestingly enough, achieved that against Lock, forcing him to make a ton of short throws which failed to move the sticks. If Lock throws lots of short passes and doesn’t get sacked, the overall outcome might still be good for the Volunteers with that tradeoff, should it emerge. Sacks become more of a priority to the extent that Lock tries to buy time in the pocket and search for downfield targets. Tennessee can’t allow him to do that, period.
3 – WIN FIRST DOWN ON DEFENSE
This is the best way to stop Lock: Make him face second and third down and long throughout the game.
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