Following its second loss of the season, Tennessee football heads back on the road this weekend for a road matchup against Kentucky at Kroger Field.
Here’s a look at the Kentucky Wildcats ahead of a crucial SEC matchup.
How The Wildcats Got Here
Expectations were low for Kentucky entering the season and they’ve shown why to this point, entering Saturday’s matchup with a 2-4 (0-4 SEC) record. The Wildcats took care of non conference foes Toledo and Eastern Michigan early in the season but have yet to win a SEC game.
There has been a clear dichotomy between home and road games. Kentucky suffered narrow losses against Ole Miss and Texas at home while suffering blowout losses at both South Carolina and Georgia.
The Wildcats played one of their best games of the season a week ago, falling to Texas in overtime despite out-gaining the Longhorns 395-179.
Kentucky Strengths
There aren’t too many areas where Kentucky has excelled this season. But one are is penalties. The Wildcats are tied for the least numbers of penalties committed in the SEC this season. Tennessee has struggled committing penalties, especially on the road. This is an area where Kentucky would pull even.
Kentucky’s defense has been solid at times though inconsistent. The strength of that group is on the defensive line where they’ve been solid against the run— especially given how much opponents are running against them with a lead. The Wildcats have not totaled a bunch of sacks but their pass rush team grades are strong accord to PFF.
I’m not sure I’d truly call it a strength, but Kentucky has been overall solid in the red zone on both sides of the ball this season.
Kentucky Weaknesses
There’s a lot of weaknesses to dive into. Let’s start on the offensive side of the ball where the Wildcats’ 22.5 points per game ranks 14th in the SEC and 102nd nationally.
Kentucky’s passing offense ranks 15th in the SEC and 106th nationally with just 186.5 yards per game. Its rushing offense is a little better, ranking 11th in the SEC with 155.7 yards per game.
The Wildcats are poor with both their third down offense and defense. They also are minus-three in the turnover battle so far this season.
Even the defense, which is certainly better than the offense, ranks 13th in the SEC by allowing 25 points per game. Texas is the only SEC team that has not scored 30 points against Kentucky.
Wildcats To Know
QB Cutter Boley
Boley took over at quarterback for Kentucky after Zach Calzada suffered an injury earlier in the season. The redshirt freshman Boley has started since the Eastern Michigan game. He’s completed 79-of-123 passes for 855 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.
He played very poorly against South Carolina, a bit better against Georgia and then his best game of the season last week against Texas.
RB Seth McGowan
McGowan is Kentucky’s top running back and enters the Tennessee game with 476 yards and seven touchdowns on 93 carries this season. The New Mexico transfer is also a threat out of the backfield, catching 11 passes for 94 yards so far this season.
DT Tavion Gadson
A 6-foot-5, 298-pound defensive tackle, Gadson spearheads a strong Kentucky defensive front. He’s recorded 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks this season. Gadson is also Kentucky’s highest graded defensive player this season according to PFF.
EDGE Steven Soles Jr.
Soles is Kentucky’s second highest graded defender according to PFF and is a true force off the edge. He’s recorded just seven tackles but three sacks and two forced fumbles to this point in the season.
The former Powell High School standout has not been great against the run this season but is a real threat off the edge.
What Josh Heupel Said About The Wildcats
Opening statement
“Whether you win or lose, you gotta flip it forward and watch the video, learn from it. And that’s what we gotta do this week, getting ready to go play in the border war game, rivalry game. You look at these games historically, they’ve been really tight. And so we’re playing a really good football team. You look at them Saturday against Texas, statistically won the game in about every way. Just not on the scoreboard. They take it to overtime. Another test inside of this league on the road against a good football team. And one that we’re looking forward to and hopefully we’ll see a lot of our fans make the trip up there to Lexington.”
On if the Kentucky film against Texas shows Tennessee players they’re facing a good team on Saturday
“Oh, they know they’re going to play a good team every week inside of this league. First of all, again, another road test. You can point to that (Texas) game and see the quality of the opponent that we’re playing.”
On what Kentucky does well
“I think their offensive line, their experience, physicality is a big part of their identity. Defensively, again, big and strong up front, multiple in front structure, coverage rotation. They’re a good football team. They play a tough schedule. You always do inside of this league, but they played a tough one.”
