Breakdown: Kentucky vs. Tennessee1

With Kentucky football mathematically eliminated from a bowl berth nearly a month ago, there has been little the team could have done to build positive momentum about the immediate future, barring an unlikely upset. But all that is changed this week for the Tennessee Volunteers. What was once a cursed matchup that the Cats may have never won again became a winnable contest once more thanks to a receiver-turned-quarterback, and some incredible luck. At this point in the season, with both teams struggling and out of a bowl, and remembering the 2011 game is a thing that actually happened, truly anything is possible. Wednesday: Flashback Quarterbacking for the Vols is junior Justin Worley. He backed up Tyler Bray in his first two seasons, and since he has taken over, it hasn’t been a perfectly smooth transition. He has thrown for a respectable 1,200 yards on the season and has a decent 56 percent completion rate, but his measly 10 touchdowns versus 8 interceptions don’t cut it in Orange Country. Tennessee’s passing offense is mustering just 162 yards per game, and that ranks 112th in the country. Marquez North and Alton Howard are Worley’s primary targets and both have explosive speed, but that’s only if the ball actually gets in their hands. Between the two of them are 80 receptions and nearly 900 yards, but only four touchdowns. After squaring off against Aaron Murray (for a good portion of the game) last week, it’s safe to say the secondary of Kentucky will have a nice reprieve from the same kind of tempo it saw against the Bulldogs. The more impressive offensive player for the Volunteers is running back Rajion Neal. This senior is having a career season where he will eclipse the millennium mark in total yards. With 990 yards on 195 carries, Neal has proven to be not only durable but a powerful every-down back. Good teams have limited his success, but against weaker competition he has gone off — as you would expect any good player to do. Bad news for Kentucky: this will be the worst run defense the Volunteers have faced all season long, including South Alabama, a team Neal racked up 169 yards on. Part of that “worse run defense” is built on the fact UK is playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, but the premise that Neal is poised to have a big game, and the Cats will want to focus on stopping the run and let Worley and his wobbly arm beat you. Tennessee is holding teams to just a little more than 200 yards in the air, so the focus for the Cats will have to be establishing the running game to open things up over the top. Early in the year, Oregon — a team noted for their running ability — threw the ball for 471 yards against the Vols. While it would take a herculean effort to reach those kinds of numbers, the Wildcats can model their game around simply letting Jojo Kemp run wild. Feed the kid the ball and see what he can do. What’s the worst that can happen? Kentucky loses the game? But it’s not all about Jojo; Jalen Whitlow will play a key role in the ground attack as well. His read option runs will be the difference in open space for Kemp, or a stone wall for the entire offense. It is improbable we make it through tomorrow evening without some kind of comparison between Butch Jones and Mark Stoops and their first years at their respective schools. There will probably be mention of how each team started off with identical records a season ago, and how each coach has built positive momentum around their brand. But make no mistake about it: Stoops has a much tougher hill to climb, not only with personnel, but with facilities and on the recruiting trails as well. We’ll look back on this time years from now, and whether it is Stoops or Jones that has the better record overall, it really doesn’t matter; at least we’re not Tennessee. @StuartHammerKSR