Cats Open Stretch Run vs. Border Rival Tennessee

Kentucky returns to the friendly confines of Kroger Field for an SEC East matchup with Tennessee on Saturday night. The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff and will air on the SEC Network. It will be the final night game of the season.

The Cats are coming off their second open date of the season, which was perfectly timed before embarking on the home stretch of four games in November. The Cats need two wins to reach bowl eligibility for a fourth straight season and feature three home games this month.

Lynn Bowden Jr. continued his mesmerizing play in the Cats’ win over Missouri last time out and now has 499 rushing yards the past three games, the most for a UK player since the great Moe Williams had 564 over a three-game span in 1995. Bowden has twice won SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors during that span.
 

Kentucky vs. Tennessee
Sat., Nov. 9 – 7:30 p.m. ET Kroger Field Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK | UT Digital Gameday Program Gameday App
Coverage
TV: SEC Network Radio: UK Sports Network Watch Listen Live Stats
UK	Team Stats	UT
4-4	Record	4-5
2-4	Conference Record	2-3
21.3	Scoring/game	24.7
355.4	Total offense/game	348.8
201.4	Rushing yards/game	138.6
154.0	Passing yards/game	210.2
24.7	Kickoff returns (avg)	20.3
9.8	Punt returns (avg)	21.7
48.8	Punting (avg)	41.9
31:06	Time of possession/game	30:18
34.0%	Third down conversion	41.3%
50.0%	Fourth down conversion	18.2%
21.3	Points allowed/game	24.1
355.4	Total yards allowed/game	351.0
174.9	Rush yards allowed/game	137.7
180.5	Pass yards allowed/game	213.3

The UK defense quietly has been excellent recently as well despite heavy losses from a season ago and one of the most inexperienced secondaries in the country. The group has managed to limit big plays and now held three straight SEC opponents to 305 total yards or less for the first time since 1979.

Cat Scratches: Physicality Coming to Define UK Offense

Before the season, Eddie Gran didn’t know what to make of having two bye weeks in the span of a month.
 
Now, as an offensive coordinator who has started three quarterbacks and rebuilt his offense along the way, Gran’s feelings are clearer.
 
“You weren’t quite sure about having two bye weeks here, but you couldn’t have asked for a better time,” Gran said. “Just for an opportunity to add some more stuff and building on packages. You’ve got two quarterbacks you can do different things with, so that’s been really good for us.”
 
Kentucky is three games and two bye weeks into the Lynn Bowden Jr. experience, with the dynamic former wide receiver taking over as UK’s signal caller and potentially saving UK’s season in the process. Astoundingly, Bowden has run for 499 yards in those three games while passing for another 149 and taking quite a beating along the way…Read More

Scouting Tennessee

• Tennessee is 4-5 on the season, including a 2-3 start in league play.
• The Volunteers are coming off an impressive 30-7 win over UAB at home last Saturday night and have won three of their past four games overall.
• Included in that stretch are victories over Mississippi State and South Carolina, both of whom defeated Kentucky earlier this season.
• Tennessee ranks third nationally with 13 interceptions this season.
• The Volunteers have the ability to be expplosive in the punt return game, ranking second nationally with over 21 yards per return.
• The offense has struggled at times, ranking 107th nationally. Despite that the Vols have one of the nation’s most dangerous wide receivers in Jauan Jennings. The brother of former UK women’s basketball player Alexis Jennings averages over 80 receiving yards per game and has seven touchdowns through the air. He has 47 catches for 722 yards.
• Jennings isn’t the only impressive wide receiver, as Marquez Callaway ranks 11th nationally in yards per reception.
• Linebacker Darrell Taylor is one of the SEC’s top pass rushers and has tallied six sacks this season.

Series vs. Tennessee

• Tennessee leads the all-time series 80-25-9, including 37-15-3 in Lexington.
• With 114 total games played, it is third-most played rivalry in Southeastern Conference history. Only Auburn-Georgia (123 games) and Ole Miss-Mississippi State (115) have been played more.
• Last season, the Cats fell 24-7 in Knoxville in a game that came on the heels of an emotional battle for the SEC East title a week earlier against Georgia.
• In that game, Lynn Bowden Jr. caught six passes for 57 yards.
• The Cats won 29-26 in Lexington in 2017 on a last-minute Stephen Johnson touchdown run. Benny Snell Jr. led the Wildcats with 180 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
• The two teams have played annually since 1919 except for 1943 (war year, no team for either school).
• Biggest UK win: 56 (56-0) in 1893 in Knoxville
• Biggest Tennessee win: 52 (52-0) in 1994 in Knoxville
• Games decided by 7 points or less (excluding ties): Tennessee leads 27-12
• UK coach Mark Stoops is 1-5 vs. Tennessee during his tenure.

Kentucky-Tennessee Connections

• Kentucky has three players on its roster from the state of Tennessee: DL Quinton Bohanna (Cordova), OT Darian Kinnard (Knoxville), and DB Jaylen Scott (Clarksville).
• Despite its proximity, Tennessee has only one player from the Commonwealth on its roster: Airin Spell (Paducah).
• UK offensive coordinator/running backs coach Eddie Gran was the special teams coordinator and RB coach at Tennessee in 2009. He coached in the Chick-fil-A Bowl that season.
• UK co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw spent three seasons at Tennessee. He was the QB coach in 2010 and 2011, and the receivers coach in 2012.
• UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart worked in Tennessee’s athletics department from 1986-98.
• Tennessee defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley coached cornerbacks under Stoops from 2013-14 and was the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach in 2015.
• Tennessee assistant head coach/passing game coordinator/wide receiver coach Tee Martin coached wide receivers at Kentucky under Joker Phillips in 2010-11, adding passing game coordinator responsibilities in 2011.
• Tennessee quality control analyst Mike Colosimo is a native of Villa Hills, Kentucky and was a graduate assistant at Kentucky from 2016-18, working closely with Vince Marrow and the tight ends.
• Tennessee director of recruiting content Clay Bollinger is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and a 2017 graduate of Kentucky. He worked as a student manager and a student recruiting assistant during his time at UK. 

A UK Win Would…

• Give UK wins in three of its last four games, all conference affairs.
• Give UK three straight home wins and push its home record to 5-1 on the season.
• Be UK’s second straight win vs. Tennessee in Lexington and second in the past three games overall.
• Give coach Mark Stoops 41 career victories at UK, moving him into a tie with Jerry Claiborne (1982-89) and Blanton Collier (1954-61) for third on the school’s all-time list.
• Give Stoops 31 wins at Kroger Field, two shy of Paul “Bear” Bryant’s (1946-53) school-record mark for home wins.
• Improve UK to 3-4 in SEC games and maintain a chance to make it four straight seasons with at least a .500 conference record.
• Pull the Cats within one victory of bowl eligibility for the fourth straight season.
• Be the program’s 31st win on the SEC Network during Stoops’ tenure (31-20 record).

Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Kickoff Show

All-Southeastern Conference defensive end Jeremy Jarmon and former quarterback Dusty Bonner will be alongside host Christi Thomas for the Don Franklin Auto Countdown To Kickoff, the two-hour pregame show that airs prior to each UK football game in 2019.

A live video broadcast of Countdown to Kickoff will air on UKAthletics.com, the UK Athletics mobile app and the Kentucky Football Facebook page.
 
For home games, Countdown to Kickoff will broadcast live in front of Nutter Field House outside Gate 1 of Kroger Field with special guests and giveaways. The set of the show is conveniently located near the Coke Fan Zone in Nutter Field House and the Cat Walk presented by Chevy.