3 Kentucky players to watch against Tennessee

No. 21 Tennessee will meet unranked Kentucky on the road in Week 9. The two SEC teams are each 2-2 in conference play and need a win. Add in that this will be an emotional rivalry affair, and we can expect to witness a tense football game on Saturday night in a true toss-up contest.

Football is a game of execution, and the team that simply does their job the best will likely leave Kroger Field victorious. For Kentucky, the matchup with Tennessee has been a nightmare in recent seasons with a pair of one-possession losses in the last two times the Vols came to town.

For Kentucky to leave this week with a much-needed win, they will need some of their best players to play like stars in a big spot. Let’s take a closer look at the Wildcats that will be under the microscope in the final weekend of October.

Kentucky needs to make competitive plays in coverage

Over the last eight quarters of football against the Vols, Kentucky has allowed a 75.6 percent completion rate, 12.5 yards per attempt, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions. Hendon Hooker is not walking through that, but this is still Josh Heupel‘s deep choice offense. The Wildcats will be put in space and asked to make competitive plays.

Kentucky’s secondary has simply come up too short in this contest the last two years. The Tennessee passing has less bite this year, but the Vols will still take their swings on vertical concepts with rocket-armed Joe Milton III. The Wildcats must be able to bow up.

First-year starting cornerback Maxwell Hairston has seen a team-high 43 coverage targets, according to PFF data. The Greater Detroit native is allowing a 65.1 percent catch rate on 11.3 yards per reception, but he’s made enough big plays to counter that. We’ve seen the redshirt sophomore record five interceptions and three pass breakups to counter the high completion percentage.

Tennessee will attack both Kentucky cornerbacks in the game. Kentucky needs each to make some competitive plays. An interception or two could change the game. Hairston has been very opportunistic this season with four interceptions through four SEC games.

Find success throwing the football

In his five years at NC State, Devin Leary averaged under five yards per attempt twice in games the QB started. Each of those came in his redshirt freshman season back in 2018. Fast forward to his super senior year in 2023, and Leary has now come in at under five yards per attempt in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.

The former four-star recruit is competing only 47.5 percent of his 25.2 throws per game on 5.2 yards per attempt with six touchdowns and four interceptions. Kentucky has a major passing game problem. The Wildcats have yet to throw for more than 205 yards in a game against power conference competition. This has to be fixed.

Kentucky has had a week off to try and find passing game solutions. Getting Barion Brown and Tayvion Robinson healthy is vital, but this offense needs its star transfer portal addition to play better football. Leary has struggled with the transition to a pro-style scheme and is completing only 31 of 84 (36.9%) throws of 10-plus air yards with a 6.0 percent interception rate. There have been all kinds of issues.

The Wildcats simply cannot start winning games unless the passing game is better. In the matchup on Saturday, Kentucky will need their quarterback to make some plays. If he can that could make the difference between winning and losing, but the start of this game could just be about building confidence for a struggling quarterback.

Kentucky needs Leary to play good football or scoring points against a top-15 Tennessee defense could be very difficult.

Wreck the interior

When a veer-and-shoot offense is rolling, this scheme that Tennessee employs can almost be impossible to stop. Wide splits create large lanes in the run game, and switch releases along with extreme spacing make playing a true zone defense very difficult. This offense forces you to play in light boxes and make coverage plays in space.

When Tennessee goes to their deep choice vertical route combinations, quite often the Vols will use a seven-man max protection keeping a tight end and running back in to help keep the quarterback clean. The one thing that can prevent this offense from operating with efficiency is a dominant defensive tackle.

The interior line of scrimmage players who can blow up double teams, slip blocks, and create interior pressure are the ones that can wreck this offense. Just turn on the tape to see what Georgia did last year. If Tennessee gets beaten in the A and B gaps, then everything becomes very difficult.

There are not many defensive tackles around in college football that can have their way with this offense. Kentucky has one of the few who could wreck this Tennessee operation.

When he is on, Deone Walker is an All-American level player. The sophomore is an outstanding interior pass rusher, owns the quickness to slip blocks, and is big enough to remain stout against doubles. If Walker is locked in, he will be a massive problem for Tennessee.

Kentucky has one player that can truly wreck this game, and he is wearing No. 0. If the Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech native plays to his full potential we could see a Tennessee offense that lacks vertical passing efficiency struggle to move the football.