Tennessee football at Kentucky: Five Wildcats to watch for against Vols

While Mark Stoops may use Jamar Watson as more of an edge-rushing linebacker, Joshua Paschal is purely that: an edge rusher. And he’s going to be extremely difficult for Tennessee football to handle on Saturday given the brilliant ways Stoops use him. After what happened last year, when he was unable to play, he’ll likely want to come back in a very strong way.

As a player, Paschal has an amazing story. He had cancer last year and missed almost all of the season, taking a redshirt but still coming back for the final two games. Now, he has 26 tackles, six tackles for a loss, two sacks, a pass deflection and a forced fumble for this season. So he is definitely back, and he could give the Vols real trouble.

At 6’3″ 284 pounds, Paschal has actually lined up at defensive tackle, defensive end and linebacker this year. Simply put, he’s got a lot of talent and could be devastating for the Vols to deal with depending on how Stoops wants to use him in this game.

Remember, Jeremy Pruitt lamented the negative plays that the Vols had in the running game last week against the UAB Blazers. Wanya Morris took his first major step back. This week, they are now facing a much tougher opponent, and Paschal is the a guy to causing negative plays, especially in the run-game, for Kentucky.