Tennessee football’s matchups against Kentucky have been some of the most interesting on the schedule in recent years because of the extremely different style that each offense plays.
Kentucky has run a pro style offense that prioritizes moving the football through the running game and controlling the clock. Josh Heupel’s offense plays at as high a tempo as any in the country while spacing the field horizontally and attacking defenses vertically.
But after bringing in Boise State’s Bush Hamdan to be its offensive coordinator this offseason, Kentucky is changing up its offense and running more no huddle this season. No one on Kentucky’s offense is more accustomed with no huddle offense than Tennessee offensive tackle transfer Gerald Mincey.
In fact, Mincey said on Wednesday that Kentucky’s offense is “probably a little bit faster” than the Tennessee offense.
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“It’s just the same but a little worse (from a fatigue standpoint),” Mincey said. “Because we’ve got to run outside zone to the right and then we have to hurry up to the ball if you know what I mean. When we had the scrimmages and saw “oh wow we can actually catch the defenses off guard and stretch the defense out and throw it over the top, we just all bought in to the system and all bought in to what it takes to have our offense. Because our goal is to have the No. 1 offense in the SEC. I think we have a good group of guys that can do that.”
Mincey entered the transfer portal back in January after spending two seasons at Tennessee where he was an off-and-on starter. The former Florida transfer split playing time with Jeremiah Crawford at left tackle in 2022 before starting seven games at right tackle while battling injuries throughout the 2023 season.
After transferring to Kentucky, Mincey earned the vitriol of Tennessee fans and later made comments about his excitement to face his old team at Neyland Stadium this season.
“Kentucky has to want to earn it,” Mincey said according to CatPause.com. “I love the underdog. When we go there Nov. 2 to Neyland (Stadium) and bust them in the mouth we’ll put the standard back over here.”
Kentucky opens up its 2024 season this Saturday when they host Southern Miss at Kroger Field in Lexington. Kickoff is at 7:45 p.m. ET and the SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
