Coming off their second bye, Tennessee Football should have an easy matchup with a BAD Kentucky Wildcats team that seems to be getting work with each passing week. However, Mark Stoops’ team does pose some matchup advantages to UT, so Rocky Top needs to be careful. Here are the five Vols who will be key to the outcome.
5. Arion Carter
If UK starts Gavin Wimsatt, then Jeremiah Telander is the more important linebacker, but since we don’t know who they are starting, Arion Carter makes this list since he’s crucial either way. Carter will need to shut down Barion Brown in the run game and make big plays if Brock VandaGriff starts, either via sacks or dropping back and picking off passes. He’d have to help Telander contain Wimsatt.
4. Jermod McCoy
Given how bad Kentucky is at passing the ball, Tennessee Football shouldn’t need anybody in the secondary to step up, but the Wildcats provide too many opportunities for interceptions as well. They have thrown nine on the year and five the past two weeks. Four of those five were to cornerbacks. Jermod McCoy is a superstar corner, so he should help the Vols in more ways than one.
3. Dylan Sampson
He wasn’t going to make this list, but then Jarquez Hunter of the Auburn Tigers ran for over 200 yards last week against Kentucky, and if he can do it, Dylan Sampson can do it. Sampson is the best running back in the SEC and coming off a bye. He should be able to torch this defense that seems to have quit on the season.
2. James Pearce Jr.
Kentucky has given up 20 sacks on the year. Meanwhile, Tennessee Football has the best defensive line in the SEC. Everybody should be able to eat given that fact, but James Pearce Jr. is obviously the star of that group, so this is his time to shine. Pearce has been getting slowly more productive each week, and now in the heart of November is when he should explode.
1. Lance Heard
Yes, the much-maligned left tackle is the most important Vol in this game. Kentucky has also registered 20 sacks, and J.J. Weaver leads the team with five. He will be lining up opposite Lance Heard in this game, who after playing awful for a while showed improvement as the game developed against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Since then, Heard has gotten healthier, as injuries have somewhat slowed him down, and he’s had time to fine-tune his game. The rest of the Tennessee Football offensive line will be crucial as well, but it’s absolutely critical for Heard to do his job. If he does, there’s a good chance the Vols’ offense finally turns a corner late in the year.
