Coming off its second open date of the season, Tennessee football is preparing for a border rivalry matchup against Kentucky at Neyland Stadium.
Here’s a look at the Kentucky Wildcats ahead of the conference showdown.
More From RTI: Everything Tennessee HC Josh Heupel Said To Open Up Kentucky Week
How The Wildcats Got Here
Kentucky entered Mark Stoops’ 12th season as head coach coming off back-to-back 7-6 seasons and trending down as a program. Things have dramatically turned in that fashion this season as the Wildcats enter the matchup 3-5 (1-5 SEC).
The Wildcats started the season poorly with a week two blowout loss at home against South Carolina. But then Kentucky looked like it was turning its season around, coming up just short in a near upset of Georgia before beating Ole Miss in Oxford.
From there, Kentucky has been in free fall dropping three straight games. The Wildcats fell to Vanderbilt at home, Florida on the road and then Auburn at home again last week. In the easiest stretch of its schedule, Kentucky went winless and is still searching for answers.
Kentucky’s Strengths
When you’re 1-5 in conference play you don’t have a ton of strengths and that’s the case this season for Kentucky. However, the Wildcats defense has been solid so far this year, ranking seventh in the SEC in yards allowed per game. They’ve been particularly strong in pass defense where they’ve allowing just 178 yards per game, a mark that ranks third in the SEC.
A big part of the reason for the pass defense success is due to a pass rush that ranks 31st nationally with 20 sacks to this point in the season.
Kentucky’s red zone defense has been perhaps the best part of the Wildcats defense to this point in the season. They’ve allowed just 14 touchdowns in 28 red zone trips to far this season. Allowing scores on just 21 of 28 trips inside the 20-yard line, Kentucky’s red zone defense ranks 18th nationally.
Penalties have been an area of strength f0r Kentucky this season. Only two SEC teams have committed fewer penalties than the Wildcats this season.
Very few things have gone well for Kentucky’s offense this season but one area they haven’t been horrible is with turnovers. The Wildcats have committed 12 turnovers this season which is in the better side of the SEC rankings.
Kentucky’s Weaknesses
You could essentially list Kentucky’s entire offense here and it would be very accurate. And it has been a major major weakness. The Wildcats 19.1 points per game in the worst in the entire SEC and they’ve failed to eclipse the 20 point mark in any of their SEC games this season.
Kentucky’s passing offense has been particularly putrid, ranking last in the SEC with 166 passing yards per game so far this season. With a non existent passing offense, Kentucky has been bad on third downs and in the red zone.
The Wildcats have scored just 12 touchdowns on 24 trips to the red zone this season while being held scoreless in four of them. Their 38% third down conversion rate ranks 14th out of 16 in the conference.
While Kentucky’s defense has been solid, they’ve also had a few issues. The Wildcats are giving up 132 yards per game on the ground, a mark that ranks 12th in the SEC. Forcing turnovers has also been a shortcoming for Kentucky’s defense, they’ve only forced 11 turnovers this season with only Auburn and Missouri forcing fewer per game so far this season.
Wildcat Players To Watch
Running Back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye
Kentucky’s top running back, Sumo-Karngbaye has been a consistent threat on a bad offense. He’s rushed for 419 yards and four touchdowns so far this season despite running behind a poor offensive line.
Sumo-Karngbaye’s rushing grade ranks fifth in the SEC according to PFF.
Receiver Dane Key
Nashville native Barion Brown is a talented returned and deep threat for Kentucky’s offense. But junior Dane Key is the true top threat in the Wildcats’ passing offense.
After solid sophomore season, Key has been a breakout star in his junior year. So far this season, Key’s caught 39 passes for 587 yards and two touchdowns so far this season.
Defensive Tackle Deone Walker
The 6-foot-6, 345-pound defensive tackle is an absolute monster in the middle of Kentucky’s defense. He’s recorded 29 tackles this season but only 1.5 sacks after recording 7.5 sacks last season.
Still, Walker has a strong pass rush grade according to PFF and is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the SEC.
Cornerback JQ Hardaway
Hardaway is Kentucky’s top cornerback and is fourth on the Wildcats with 34 tackles. He’s also intercepted two passes, broken up two more while forcing a fumble.
The junior from Georgia is the best player in the Wildcats’ secondary.
What Josh Heupel Said About The Wildcats
Opening Statement
“You look at Kentucky, it’s a group that, defensively, playing extremely well. You just look at them statistically, defensively we got to do a good job follow for formations, motions and control the line of scrimmage, quarterback run game being a part of that as well. And for our special teams, they got a dynamic returner, they can change the game and got to do a great job against him.”
On Kentucky’s defensive front, star defensive lineman Deone Walker
“The difference in this league and everywhere else around the country, you’re gonna see elite players with great physical traits and athleticism. (Deone Walker) is a guy that is a dominant player. As they move him around in his front, he’s able to play within their scheme extremely well. Use his hands, he’s physical, he’s active, disruptive; he’s a really good football player. But their d-line in general has great size and plays extremely well with pad level.”
On the second and third level of Kentucky’s defense
“Yeah, they got length, athleticism. They’ll play multiple fronts; three or four down, drop eight at a time. They play with great discipline, pattern-reading and causing issues with window. We gotta do a great job of recognizing their rotations, feeling the underneath coverage and you know, getting to the right spot at the right time with the ball.”
