Kentucky must play 'complementary football' against Tennessee

Kentucky’s defense has a very tall challenge this weekend. Tennessee might have the best offense in college football as the Vols lead the country in scoring while also ranking inside the top five in success rate, EPA, third/fourth down conversions, and points per drive.

However, football is a team game. The best thing that can help the UK defense on Saturday in Neyland Stadium is if the Tennessee offense isn’t on the field. Kentucky’s offense knows that stringing drives together and finishing possessions with touchdowns is the ticket for the Wildcats in this SEC East showdown.

“I always feel like it’s about points per possession. It’s the turnovers and points off turnovers that affect the game negatively that have to be avoided,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello told reporters on Tuesday. “We cannot start slow like as happened at times this year. We need to put drives together, but they need to end in touchdowns and not field goals. If you’re looking to trade touchdowns in this type of game you’re going to get run out of the building.”

“We have to make our possessions count. And if we do that with points we’re ok. If you don’t, it’s going to be difficult to keep up with them.”

Time of possession is a key statistic that everyone will be pointing at but points per drive will be essential this week. Kentucky enters Week 9 ranking No. 55 in that metric scoring 2.53 points per possession. However, the Cats are coming off of their best game where they put up 27 points in 10 possessions against a top-25 Mississippi State defense, and that included a kneel-out inside the five to end the game. Kentucky must grow from that and find some success against a Tennessee defense that ranks No. 62 in points per drive (2.18).

“I think we can use it to our advantage,” Will Levis said about Kentucky’s slow pace compared to Tennessee’s no-huddle approach with tempo. “I think if we’re able to string together a couple 10-plus play drives and take a lot of time off the clock that just doesn’t give them as much time on the field. It makes it easier on our defense giving them the rest that they need. It’s going to be really tough for them going against that tempo offense, and then for us to go three-and-out we’re not helping the defense at all in that regard.”

“We gotta make sure that we put long drives together, manage the game, manage the clock. We gotta do that if we want to win.”

Kentucky knows it can’t win in a shootout with Tennessee. If the Cats are to find success, they need a ball-control approach that can help limit the opportunities for a potent offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate Hendon Hooker.

“We’ve got to play great complementary football,” Scangarello said. “We have to take care of the football. Limit the mistakes — the penalties and all that. If we can do that and play our style of game we’ll see what happens.”

Kentucky must beat man coverage

Right now is a good time to turn back the clock and remember why Mark Stoops decided to make offensive changes following the 2020 season. Kentucky had a good offensive line and a strong running game, but the offense had major issues dealing with press coverage on the outside and creating easy throws for the quarterback.

The Wildcats brought in an NFL scheme with condensed formations to help create easier throws and have also upgraded the talent at both quarterback and wide receiver. That has made it harder for defenses to win in isolation as the Cats are in year two of this pro-style approach with Rich Scangarello now running the show.

However, Kentucky could see an old style of defense on Saturday night on Rocky Top.

“They got a good scheme, they cause havoc, they create negative plays,” Scangarello said about Tennessee’s defense. “They got a mindset — they’ll attack you if they need to and they can play coverage if they need to. They play a lot of man at times. They went out and locked LSU and Alabama down. Went mano a mano and had some success doing that. They really stymied LSU.

Under defensive coordinator Tim Banks, the Vols want to force the issue. Tennessee will often play with numbers to try and get ahead of the chains. When it comes to third down, the Vols do not lose that mindset as this is a team that is not afraid to play man coverage.

Kentucky must be able to win in isolation on both offense and defense against Tennessee.

“They’re looking to get the negative plays and beat you in those ‘gotta have it’ situations. We’re going to have to come in those big situations where it’s third down, and we know we’re gonna have pressure, and we gotta have answers,” said Will Levis. “I gotta have answers. We gotta know our assignments, and we gotta pick them up. We gotta win against man defense.

At the pro level, the style of defense that Tennessee plays is more common. Scangarello should be comfortable scheming against what the Vols do. When it comes time to air it out, Kentucky must be able to make a bad pass defense pay for getting aggressive.