The 5-2 Kentucky Wildcats will invade the 7-0 Tennessee Vols Saturday in a matchup that gives Kentucky perhaps its best opportunity to make some noise in 2022. Yes, the win over Florida was significant. But the rest of UF’s season has proven that this is still very much a rebuilding Florida team. Yes, the win over Mississippi State was perhaps UK’s most complete effort to date. But Tennessee is, well, Tennessee.
For those who can remember Kentucky’s run of futility against the Vols spanning from 1984 (when UK won in Knoxville en route to a Hall of Fame Bowl win and a nine-victory season) to 2011 (when wide receiver Matt Roark played quarterback for the only time in his college career and engineered a UK upset), a chance against Tennessee has been a near constant. So has been the run of frustrating near misses.
And now, two weeks off an upset of Alabama, the Vols are the darling of college football. Josh Heupel’s potent offense, Hendon Hooker’s playmaking, and all of those talented receivers make UT one of the most interesting teams in the nation to watch.
On the other hand, Kentucky’s pass defense has been one of the better groups in the SEC. The Wildcats have rediscovered their running game, and UT has struggled with giving up massive chunks of passing yardage.
The only game on Kentucky’s schedule with a bigger national “move the needle” potential than Tennessee is the matchup with Georgia on November 19th to end SEC play. But UK hasn’t beaten Georgia in two of the last five years like they have against the Vols. And while Tennessee is talented, Georgia remains something closer to an NFL team in training.
Will Tennessee be looking past the Wildcats to its own game with Georgia? Will Kentucky, coming off a bye week, be healthier than in several weeks? Can Kentucky capitalize on the pressure of remaining at the top against a UT team that hasn’t seen a ranking this high in the lifetime of anybody on this team?
Kentucky is around a 12-point underdog per the folks in Vegas. That’s perfect range for Mark Stoops. It’s a chance for UK to put the chip back on its shoulder once more, but also to know coming in that they have a puncher’s chance of taking down the Vols.
But puncher’s chance aside, what will happen in the game? The ultimate guess here is that UK gives Tennessee all the fight it can handle, but that the Vols figure out a way to wind up with the
win, 35-28, and if the Cats pull it off, a slice of humble pie and some crow will be a nice Sunday snack.
Predicting the rest of the SEC:
Georgia 42, Florida 13
Arkansas 34, Auburn 17
Missouri 21, South Carolina 17
Ole Miss 35, Texas A&M 20
Joe Cox is contributing editor for KySportsStyle.com Magazine. He grew up in Letcher County and Bell County and has written or co-written nine books. His most recent, "A Fine Team Man: Jackie Robinson and the Lives He Changed," was released in February 2019 and can be ordered on Amazon or at many local bookstores. Joe is an attorney and lives in Logan County with his wife and children. You can reach him at jrcox004@gmail.com.
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