Tennessee football is back at Neyland Stadium this Saturday night as they host Kentucky in a conference matchup. The Vols are looking to stay in the thick of the College Football Playoff race while Kentucky is riding a three-game losing streak and looking for a bounce back victory.
Each week, the RTI team will provide game predictions for Tennessee’s matchup.
We move on to the Kentucky Wildcats.
More From RTI: Tennessee Becoming Bigger Favorites Against Kentucky As Kickoff Approaches
Jack Foster
I don’t mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but outside of UTEP, this is the most uninteresting game remaining on the schedule for Tennessee.
This Kentucky team is bad right now. The Cats are banged up and cannot figure out their quarterback spot, and as Ric Butler said on the RTI Press Pass earlier this week, Tennessee is their worst nightmare right now and likely the death knell to their postseason hopes, as five-loss Kentucky faces Texas in Austin later in the season.
I expect Tennessee’s defense to flat out dominate Kentucky’s offense. Barring garbage time scores, Kentucky won’t score two touchdowns. This means that even if Tennessee’s offense struggles again, and this time for 60 minutes, I don’t see the Vols losing barring an unmitigated disaster. What would that disaster be? Incredibly short fields for the Kentucky offense and at least one defensive touchdown.
The big question in this game is can Tennessee’s offense build on the momentum created in a 24-point second half against Alabama. Kentucky’s defense, while banged up, is still a relatively sound unit. It won’t be a 40-burger from the Tennessee offense, but 30 is certainly on the table and will happen if Tennessee plays like it did in the final 30 minutes two weeks ago.
I don’t expect Tennessee’s offense to fall flat, but I also don’t expect a well-oiled machine. Dylan Sampson will do Dylan Sampson things and break the single-season rushing TD record of 18 Sampson is currently at 17), and Nico Iamaleava will make some plays, but it won’t be a complete blitz, and I’m not sure how much Tennessee’s offense is going to need to score in the second half.
This might not be the most exciting of games, but Tennessee will dominate in all likelihood, as I said, barring Tennessee’s offense gift-wrapping Kentucky points.
Tennessee covers and improves to 7-1.
Prediction: Tennessee 27, Kentucky 6
Ric Butler
Tennessee returns to Neyland Stadium after their second and final open date with a struggling Kentucky team on the horizon.
Despite a close loss to Georgia and a win over Ole Miss this season, the wheels on the Wildcats’ bus have been hanging on by a thread in recent weeks. Three straight unranked losses is one thing, but an injury-filled roster zapping optimism for the future is an entirely different thing for the Kentucky faithful to worry about.
Kentucky doesn’t have a lot of ways they can beat Tennessee but the main is by capitalizing on the Vols’ mistakes. It’ll be important for Tennessee to play clean football on Saturday as the Wildcats will struggle to consistently move the ball down the field – both because of their own offense searching for an identity and Tennessee’s relentless defense. The fewer opportunities Kentucky has to capitalize on a Tennessee mistake, the more the odds flood in the Vols’ direction.
Auburn torched Kentucky on the ground last week. While Dylan Sampson is going to be a key factor to the game as always, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kentucky’s defense force Tennessee into some throwing situations to see if they can manufacture some risky situations for the Vols’ offense. That being said, though, Tennessee’s passing offense can still take advantage of this Wildcats defense. As the saying goes, you throw early to run late. I see that being a potential path to success for Tennessee on Saturday night.
While it hasn’t happened in the last three games for one reason or another, I believe that a few quick punches from Tennessee out of the gate will really put Kentucky on its heels for the contest.
It’s Dark Mode in Knoxville. It’s Spooky Rocky Top before the game. Perhaps it’ll be Kentucky that pays the price for Alabama radio’s comments on Neyland Stadium last week. Pick your poison, but there’s no doubt that the Neyland Stadium crowd is going to be a Nightmare on Fulmer Street for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Prediction: Tennessee 30, Kentucky 10
Ryan Schumpert
Tennessee begins a critical five-week stretch to end the regular season with a must win game against a struggling Kentucky team. The Wildcats are reeling entering their trip to Knoxville, having lost their last three games dating back to their upset win over Ole Miss in late September.
The Vols have been far from perfect this season but it’s hard to see Kentucky’s path to an upset in this one. Kentucky’s offense is absolutely dreadful, they’ve failed to eclipse 20 points in a SEC game this season and has nothing to lean on whether it’s on the ground or through the air. They’re facing a Tennessee defense that hasn’t allowed a single opponent to score even 20 points this season. That combination makes it difficult to see how Kentucky is going to score enough to win this game.
For me, the question is how much Tennessee’s offense can carry over from a good second half against Alabama into this matchup. For all their flaws, Kentucky’s defense has been pretty good this season and the Vols won’t be able to run all over them. If that’s the case, Tennessee will have to hit plays in the passing game to have a bunch of success offensively.
Tennessee’s offensive line protected Nico Iamaleava better last week than they have in all of SEC play. If they can do that and Iamaleava can dial the deep ball in like he did last week, then the Vols should absolutely roll. My wager is that Tennessee hits some of those plays but doesn’t have an absolute offensive explosion.
Prediction: Tennessee 31, Kentucky 6
