KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Josh Heupel opened game week on Monday with the Volunteers coming off their bye and preparing for the biggest home game of the season so far. No. 16 Tennessee (6-2, 3-2 SEC) hosts No. 8 Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:15 p.m. Eastern (5:15 Central) on ESPN, with Tom Hart and Roddy Jones on the call.
It is homecoming, it is the Vols' "Dark Mode" game, and it is the first SEC night game of the year in Knoxville. "Excited, November, best part of the year here playing meaningful football and get an opportunity to come home," Heupel said. He called Kentucky "a really good football team that is playing extremely well together."
What worries Tennessee is how clean the Wildcats play. Kentucky, in first-year coach Will Stein's first season, leads the SEC in turnover margin and is among the least penalized teams in the country at 4.5 penalties per game. Tennessee averages 7.6 penalties per game, 11th in the SEC, and while the Vols are fifth in the league in turnover margin (plus-3), they have lost 11 turnovers while forcing 14 takeaways.
"It comes down to doing ordinary things at a really high level," Heupel said of Kentucky. "Communication, not hurting yourself with penalties, doing your job and 11 guys operating as one." On defense, he said the Vols must control the line of scrimmage and get the Wildcats into third-and-long situations. He also noted the amount of shifting and motion Kentucky uses before the snap.
The Vols are coming off a road loss at South Carolina, and they have little margin left. Tennessee still has two SEC road trips and a home game against LSU on the schedule, and the Wildcats are ranked in the top 10 for a November game for the first time since 1977. Quarterback play has been inconsistent for the Vols, and Heupel gave no hint about whether a change could come after the bye week.
Tennessee's offense runs through running back DeSean Bishop, and Kentucky's coaches know that slowing him down is a key to the game. Bishop is the first of four top running backs the Wildcats will face this month, followed by Florida's Jadan Baugh, Missouri's Jamal Roberts and Louisville's Isaac Brown.
A sold-out Neyland Stadium will be the setting for a game with playoff implications for both border rivals. Kentucky is 7-1 and, in Stein's first year, has put together one of its best seasons in decades. The Vols need the win to stay in the chase.