Hey, it's Tennessee Week.
You know, Kentucky-Tennessee. The football version. Cats and Vols. My Old Kentucky Home vs. Rocky Top. The rivalry formerly known as the "Battle for the Beer Barrel." For years played at the end of the grid calendar, UK-UT was once the most important game on the Kentucky schedule. This year, it might be again.
When Mark Stoops' Wildcats travel to Knoxville to face Jeremy Pruitt's 18th-ranked Volunteers on Saturday for a noon kickoff at Neyland Stadium, the outcome will go a long, long way in determining the success or failure of this playing-in-a-pandemic Kentucky football season.
The Cats finally kicked the victory door down on Saturday, executing a turnover turnaround to ground Mike Leach and Mississippi State 24-2. Having failed to force a single turnover in their two opening losses _ "Embarrassing," defensive coordinator Brad White called it _ the Wildcats picked off six MSU passes on the way to a the victory. It was the first time as a head coach that Leach, a former UK assistant (1997-98), had failed to see his team score a touchdown, leaving the head pirate ready to throw some players overboard.
"I think we're going to have to check some of our group and figure out who really wants to play here," Leach said afterward. "Any malcontents, we're going to have to purge a couple of those."
Over in the winning locker room, Stoops was so happy he said he had some jokes prepared for the media in his postgame press conference, only to remember the media isn't in the postgame press conference. It's all Zoom video conferences these days. "it's just not the same," said the happy head coach.
Through the first two 2020 games, Kentucky's defense had not looked like the same unit that had finished in the nation's top 20 statistically a year ago. Ole Miss' Rebels roasted the Cats for 35 regulation points in a 42-41 overtime win the week before that left Stoops stewing.
"Last week I was not very proud and not very pleased with the way we played defense," said the coach.
New Saturday, new story. Or an old story, as the defenders in blue resembled the UK defenses of recent vintage, smothering MSU's short-passing game. Mixing in four-man pass rushes while normally dropping eight men into blanket coverage, the Cats were hip to Leach's tricks all night long on the way to the six picks.
"Brad did a really nice job of keeping them off balance," Stoops said.
Now it's offensive coordinator Eddie Gran's turn to head back to the drawing board. After piling up 408 rushing yards against Ole Miss, the Cats failed to crack Mississippi State's aggressive 3-3-5 defensive attack. The passing game wasn't any better on a night when Kentucky managed just 157 yards of total offense and still won the game. "We've got to get some things corrected," Stoops said.
And there's no time like the present. The last two years, Tennessee has been a bitter pill for Stoops to swallow. His troops turned up flat in Knoxville two years ago and lost 24-7. Last year in Lexington, Kentucky won the statistical battle but lost the war 17-13. Instead of going 11-2 in 2018, UK finished 10-3. Instead of going 9-4 last year, UK finished 8-5.
Now Saturday could determine how UK's 2020 plays out. The Vols are coming off a 44-21 loss to Georgia in which a four-point halftime lead faded into a second half shutout. And Kentucky gets Georgia the next week, Oct. 17, as part of a daunting schedule that still includes November road games at Florida and Alabama. In the steep hill that is this all-SEC 10-game schedule, every win you can get counts.
Especially when it's Tennessee Week.
"I do have a little bounce in my step though," said Stoops, after mildly complaining about Saturday's late night finish. "We've got a big one coming up this week, so I'll be, we'll be ready to go."
