Keys to an upset of Tennessee

Kentucky is still looking for its first SEC win and it won’t be easy with the tide of history in the Tennessee series.

The Volunteers have lost two games this year, but those games were to Georgia and Alabama. Otherwise the Vols have been impressive.

Here are three keys that could help the Wildcats have a chance even as a solid underdog.

1. Slow the run

Easier said than done. Kentucky’s run defense has been very good at times but it hasn’t always been good. Tennessee’s ground game has been strong.

DeSean Bishop has run for 604 yards (7.84 YPC) with seven touchdowns and his two backups, Star Thomas and Peyton Lewis, have combined to rush for almost 600 yards and nine scores. It’s a formidable ground attack and given how UT has created big passing plays against the Cats, forcing Tennessee to be more one dimensional would help the cause.

The more helmets you commit to the box the more you leave yourself vulnerable to the big play. But that big play threat against Tennessee is always going to be there. You can’t let them have consistent success on the ground or the big passing plays are inevitable anyway.

Joey Aguilar has been good passing on first down. UK needs to slow things down on first. It also needs to win short yardage to get off the field.

2. Cutter Boley turns in a third straight strong outing

Seems basic, right? In concept, less so in practice. Tennessee’s defense has allowed 30 points per game but Boley is still a very young quarterback. Some may assume he’s ready for a big game because he showed some maturity and progress against Georgia and Texas. Maybe so. If he does play well, even in a loss, Boley will remain an important storyline moving forward.

But with Seth McGowan’s status even more falls on Boley. Number one, he has to avoid a flurry of mistakes. You can’t say that an interception is unacceptable because we don’t know what kind of game will play out. But he can’t let things spiral. Boley also has to hit on some big plays because there’s a good chance you will have to trade blows with an offense that’s averaging 44 points per game.

McGowan’s status is especially unfortunate for the team this week because Tennessee’s run defense has failed it at times.

3. Cover the middle of the field well

We’re seeing some SEC quarterbacks attack the middle of the field well. Not just Ty Simpson at Alabama, but also Joey Aguilar for Tennessee.

Aguilar has been exceptional passing between the hash marks and that puts a lot of pressure on a defense when you have to account for a strong run game and also a deep vertical threat on the outside. Aguilar is 9/13 for 390 yards and 5 TD on deep throws down the middle but he’s also 22/38 for 358 yards, 3 TD and one INT on intermediate throws over the middle.

You can’t take away everything this Tennessee offense is going to throw at you, similar to the game against Ole Miss. But you have to narrow your focus to certain areas where they have done a lot of damage and this has been a trend.