Tennessee football vs. Kentucky: 10 keys for Vols and Wildcats

8. Penalties

If there’s one constant theme for both of these teams, it’s penalties. That may sound cliche, but the past two weeks magnify it for these teams. This applies to a dramatic change week to week as it was a huge reason for the Kentucky Wildcats losing and Tennessee football winning two weeks ago and then the reverse happening this past week.

In its 42-41 overtime loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, Kentucky had eight penalties for 81 yards. Ole Miss, meanwhile, had only five penalties for 33 yards. The next week, Kentucky only had three penalties for 25 yards, and its opponent, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, had eight penalties for 57 yards. UK barely lost to Ole Miss and blew out MSU.

When it comes to the Vols, they had only three penalties for 20 yards in their 35-12 win over the Missouri Tigers, who had six penalties for 49 yards in that game. A week later, however, they had 10 penalties for 84 yards, including 35 yards by the offensive line alone and a key targeting penalty that knocked out their best pass-rusher.

Both of of the teams are in the bottom half of the league right now in penalty yards per game, with Kentucky at No. 9 and the Vols at No. 11. Taking all this into account, the penalties will have a huge impact on this outcome. Which Kentucky team shows up, and which UT team shows up? That will determine the penalty issues on Saturday.