Kentucky defense will need to play 'clean game' against Tennessee

Kentucky’s defense was having a disappointing season heading into Week 8. The Wildcats had some massive tackling issues. Ole Miss and Georgia both went north of 30 points while even a struggling South Carolina offense that has scored 10 offensive points or less in three SEC games managed to scored three touchdowns against UK’s defense. This program used the final bye week of the season to fix some problems.

Many of those problems were fixed against Texas. Kentucky’s front continued to play good football at the point of attack but the Wildcats pursued and leveraged the football on the perimeter. That led to a much better tackling performance. UK’s defense held Texas and Arch Manning to a completion rate under 50 percent. This was the first time the program had done that in an SEC game since defeating Mississippi State 24-3 in 2023. The Wildcats made some big strides on defense against the Horns. The defense is hopeful that is a launching point as UK begins the second half of its season on Saturday night at Kroger Field versus Tennessee.

“Every week’s its own little unique challenge scenario. The guys have to wipe last week in terms of knowledge. What you’d like them to feel is that energy that they played with. I was really proud of the effort that they displayed,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re going to need to carry that over. We’re going to have to play a really clean game. Guys are going to have to win one-on-ones.”

Tennessee’s passing game is averaging 310.7 yards per game. The Vols are dangerous when they dropback to pass. However, the run game sets up everything. Josh Heupel’s offense is rushing for 200.3 yards per game. DeSean Bishop is on a 1,000-yard pace. Add in the tempo with the extreme spacing and the Vols can be difficult to handle.

Slowing down this attack has been a problem for Kentucky. Tennessee is averaging averaging 35.7 points per game (3.11 points per drive) in this series under Heupel. The Vols have gone north of seven yards per play in both meetings at Kroger Field. UK cannot afford for this game to turn into a shootout. To prevent that, UK must duplicate the performance we saw against Texas. The Cats must play clean. They must make tackles. They must make competitive plays in space.

“Huge, huge challenge,” said White.