Tennessee football remains on the road this weekend to face Kentucky in the latest edition of the historic border war. The Vols enter the game with two losses, coming off the defeat in Tuscaloosa to Alabama. The margin is now razor-thin for Tennessee in its hunt to return to the playoffs. On the other sideline, the Wildcats are yet to win an SEC game, but are coming off an overtime game against Texas, where they fell just short.
Tennessee is an 8.5-point favorite over Kentucky, according to the FanDuel. What do the Vols need to do to fend off the upset bid? Here are three keys for Tennessee.
More From RTI: Kentucky Starting Running Back Seth McGowan Remains ‘Questionable’ In Latest Availability Report
Get Back to Playing Complimentary Football
When Tennessee has been at its best this year, it’s been when both sides of the ball are picking each other up. One unit has a bad moment? The other side quickly makes up for it. Think back to the Syracuse game when Joey Aguilar fumbled. The next drive, Colton Hood scoops and scores. Or when the Vols won at Mississippi State. When the offense stalled, the defense made big plays to get on the scoreboard.
Against Alabama last week, it was the opposite. Both sides would look shaky until one unit would breathe some life into the game. Whether it was a big stop on defense or an offensive drive that ended in the end zone, there were glimpses of hope that Tennessee could get back into the game. However, without fail, the other side of the ball would drop the ball (sometimes literally) and kill all momentum.
For Tennessee to play to its potential and leave Kentucky in the dust, the Vols need to string together possessions on both sides of the ball where they’re playing at a high level. Especially early, if Tennessee comes out and scores on offense in back-to-back drives and the defense gets a stop in between, it could be a death blow. Or, if there’s a mistake on one side, the other needs to step up and have their back.
Bottle Up Early Down Quick Throws
Kentucky doesn’t have a great offensive line. To make up for this, the Wildcats have gotten the ball out of quarterback Cutter Boley’s hands quickly. Particularly on early downs, when they don’t just run it, it’s a lot of screens to the flat, quick curls on the boundary, mesh over the middle, jet sweeps and other quick hitters.
With Tennessee’s pass rush looking like one of the better units in the country, despite being largely silent at Alabama, you have to expect Kentucky to continue to go with this mentality. Along with stuffing the run, the Vols need to stifle these quick throws.
If UT can shut those down, it’ll create a lot of second and third and longs. On those more obvious passing downs, that’s when Tennessee can get to the quarterback and be disruptive.
Clean Game for Joey Aguilar
Joey Aguilar needs to stay clean in two ways. First is the literal way. The Vols’ offensive line needs to play well in the pass protection piece and do a good job of identifying different blitzes and pressures Kentucky is going to try to throw at them.
Given Aguilar’s injury vs. Alabama, having this be a game where he’s not on the ground and taking blows will be critical. The last thing Tennessee needs is for his neck to become an issue either in this game or going forward against Oklahoma.
The other aspect is figurative. Aguilar needs to play a clean game with no turnovers. While you can make excuses for a lot of his picks, he’s already thrown the most of any Tennessee quarterback under Josh Heupel in a single season. Aguilar can’t help the Wildcats by giving them field position.
