I’m no coach, but if I were Josh Heupel, my gameplan for the Kentucky game would be pretty simple. However, simple doesn’t mean it will work.
The Vols’ best chance to bounce back from last week’s loss to Alabama is to return to running the football at a highly proficient level. You remember those days, right? Tennessee was ranked as one of the top 10 running teams in the country in yards per carry and yards per game. Tennessee carried that right on to Tuscaloosa – until halftime.
Tennessee tallied 100 rushing yards against the Crimson Tide in the first half. Then, Bama got serious. The Vols ended the game with 133 yards rushing. It’s vaunted trio of tailbacks accounted for just 74 yards on the ground. Was that a Big Orange thud or an Alabama team that was intent on loading the tackle box and stopping the run? Probably a bit of both, but if it’s the latter then the Vols can expect to see more defensive players lurking near the line of scrimmage in upcoming games, which begins on Saturday with Kentucky.
The good news for the Vols is that Kentucky isn’t Alabama. No one would mistake the two teams even if they switched uniforms. The bad news it that Kentucky has a pretty stout defense when it comes to stopping the run. In fact, the Wildcats have been better than Alabama this season in rushing defense.
Kentucky has allowed just over three-yards per carry just like Alabama. The Cats have allowed 3.07 yards per carry while Bama has allowed 3.09. Per game, Kentucky has allowed 95 yards rushing per game while Alabama has yielded 109 yards on the ground per contest. If the Vols hope to beat Kentucky the old fashioned way, they might be in for a surprise. Of course, there’s always a counterpunch.
Tennessee’s passing game has been as up-and-down as a Dollywood roller coaster this season. However, this may be the perfect time to harken back to days past when the Vols could throw the ball around with the best teams in the country, like last season.
Kentucky is one of the worst teams in the SEC when it comes to stopping the pass. The Cats’ have allowed 250 yards per game passing this season, which is 12th in the SEC. After passing for 271 yards against Alabama, quarterback Joe Milton III could be in for a career game in Lexington. Heupel seemed to hint that the Vols were heading in the right direction when he spoke with the media this week.
“We have to be better in all phases. It can be protection, routes, winning (one-on-ones), reading it, Joe putting it on target and catching the ball,” Heupel said. “It’s a little bit of everything. I thought we took some steps at times in our passing game last week. We have to continue to improve here as we go.”
Even if Tennessee’s passing game is on the rise, that doesn’t mean the Vols will abandon the run just because they struggled last week or that Kentucky is stout up front. Heupel’s credo about always establishing the run is still firmly in place.
“We weren’t always on the right side of it,” Heupel said when asked about the Vols’ running game against Bama. “That’s running backs, it’s our front five, it’s tight ends. We needed it to be a little bit cleaner in that one. Also, knowing the type of opponent that we were playing, too. We can be better, normal downs and situationally, too.”
The most important running downs against Kentucky may be on fourth down since Heupel has a penchant of going for it in short-yardage situations. As good as Kentucky is against they run, they’ve given up five-of-nine fourth down attempts against opposing offenses this season. The Vols can’t get much worse on fourth downs considering they’re last in the SEC, converting just three of 13 attempts this season.
So while I’m not a coach, I’d dial down the fourth-down attempts, let Milton shine and run the football when Kentucky backs off the line of scrimmage. If the Vols are ever capable of being a high-octane passing attack, this is the game to do it.
