Tennessee-Kentucky: Recapping a Vols win
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Tennessee Volunteers found a way to pull out a close win over the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. For the 3rd straight time at Kroger Field, the Vols pulled off a one-score victory to send Kentucky fans home disappointed. I for one think it’s hilarious to let Kentucky think they have a chance for the whole game and then pull the rug out from under them at the last second. In a way, it makes beating those troglodytes just that much sweeter. Don’t get me wrong I would’ve loved to see the Vols play a cleaner game and take care of business well before the 4th quarter like I predicted, but in a game where Devin Leary morphed into prime Joe Montana it was nice to see the Vols still get the victory. However, there are still plenty of areas where the Vols have to be better, and also some areas where the Vols were excellent. Let’s take a look at 2 positives and 2 negatives from the Vol’s 33-27 win over the mighty Wildcats.
Negatives
The Vol secondary on Saturday night was downright painful to observe. I think any rational Vols fan expected a step back in the secondary after losing Kamal Hadden for the year, but what occurred Saturday night was putrid at best. The Vols allowed Devin Leary to put up one of the best performances of his collegiate career as he went 28-39 passing with 372 yards and 2 touchdowns. Leary did make a few amazing throws on the night for sure, but for the most part, he feasted on soft coverage from the Vol secondary. Even when the Vols played man Saturday night they were lined up 10 yards off the receiver which is easy pickings for an experienced Quarterback like Leary. However, when the Vols played zone coverage Saturday night it was even worse. I don’t think there’s any reason for the Vols to play zone coverage for the rest of the year. They don’t have the personnel to play it effectively, and nothing good happens when they do decide to play zone. Now to be fair it didn’t help that the Vols were only able to muster one sack on Leary, but that’s still not a good enough excuse for allowing nearly 400 yards to a quarterback who’s been average for most of the season.
The red zone struggles continue for this Vol offense. I actually feel good about the effectiveness of the offense between the 20s right now, but losing your mind in the red zone is a perfect way to get beat when playing on the road. Luckily for the Vols, they were able to score twice from outside the red zone on Saturday night. Without those two scores, the Vols likely would’ve lost the game. Getting a touchdown 1 out of every 5 times you get inside the red zone is downright incompetence, and there’s no way Josh Heupel is not losing his mind over it right now. If the Vols even scored 3 touchdowns out of the 5 times they made it to the red zone Saturday night the game wouldn’t have been close in the 4th quarter. I think most of the struggles come down to the lack of an effective passing game when the field gets tighter, and when teams are able to stack the box the Vols end up coming away with 3 points instead of 7. Josh Heupel needs to spend every waking moment this week figuring out a way for the Vols to finish drives with touchdowns because if he doesn’t it will be hard for the Vols to muster enough points to beat Missouri or Georgia.
Positives
The running game got their swagger back Saturday night. The Vols are no doubt a team that wants to pound the rock, and the only two losses this year have come in games in which the opponent shut down the Vol running game. The Vols were able to run the ball 47 times for 253 yards against the Wildcats. The Wildcat run defense is by no means average either as they came into this matchup 2nd in the SEC in run defense. Listen when the Vols dominate the line of scrimmage like they did Saturday night they are capable of beating anyone in the country. The 3- headed monster in the backfield of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small, and Dylan Sampson is the best in the SEC by a wide margin, and when they are clicking they are impossible to stop. When one back isn’t having a great game the other two pick up the slack, which is what happened Saturday night. Jabari Small only got 9 carries for 32 yards, but Jaylen Wright had 11 carries for 120 yards, and Dylan Sampson had 17 carries for 75 yards. Dylan Sampson was the back for the Vols on the final two drives as Jaylen Wright was banged up according to Josh Heupel. Sampson didn’t shy away from the moment though as he almost singlehandedly took the Vols down the field, and then capped it off with a touchdown run to put the Vols up 33-24. Then on the final drive, Sampson remained in the game, but the game-ending drive was Joe Milton’s time to shine. Joe Milton iced the game away converting a 3rd and 7 with his legs. Joe Milton has finally found his role in the run game, and now the coaches trust him enough to call his number when the Vols need a huge play.
The Vols finally won a road game this year. It felt like the Vols might not win a road game ever again after the collapse in Tuscaloosa, but the team bounced back and made it happen at historic Kroger Field. The Vols needed a boost of confidence on the road with one more crucial road game remaining on the schedule, and finding a way to win a game where you didn’t bring your best effort is a good sign. Now to be fair the road atmosphere at Kroger Field is a lot less intimidating than the Swamp or Bryant-Denny, but the Vol’s last road game this season is at Missouri. Missouri’s home crowd in the past has been outnumbered by the rocks that form the giant “M” in their endzone terrace so that is nothing to be scared of either. It was just nice for this team to prove that they can win away from Neyland, and hopefully, it gives them the confidence they need to take care of Missouri on the road in two weeks.
The Vols now return home to take on the UConn Huskies for Homecoming. This game is a great opportunity to get the starters some much-needed rest. This game is also a great opportunity to finally see Nico Iamaleava get some meaningful reps. If both of these things do not happen on Saturday the Vols have some major concerns heading into the last 3 games, but right now I am confident that both will happen.