7. Kentucky’s punting advantage
Going into the season, it seemed like Tennessee football would be the one with the punting advantage. Joe Doyle was the guy who was a freshman All-American, and he also was added to the Ray Guy Watch List midway through this season. The future with him was bright, and he looked like he would continue the tradition of Punter U.
But Doyle then began to struggle, and now he has been benched in favor of Paxton Brooks. Meanwhile, Kentucky has the No. 1 ranked net punting average in the nation behind the leg of Max Duffy. For the year, Duffy has averaged 48.76 yards a punt on 38 punts, and he has the most reliable leg of anybody in the nation.
As a team that struggles offensively under Mark Stoops and lives by its defense, it’s huge to have such a punting advantage. Stoops will want to control the tempo and turn this into an ugly game, and field position is his best way to do that. This is why Duffy becomes one of his biggest weapons, and Jeremy Pruitt has to counter that.
How will he counter it? Well, he has to hope Brooks continues to come on. Last week, he actually had a very good game, and for the year, he is averaging 42.85 yards a punt on 13 punts. So he has a leg as well, and it’s worth noting that he was once a highly touted prospect. Simply put, Brooks has to somewhat offset Kentucky’s advantage when it comes to the punt game.