Tennessee Will Come Out Hot in First Half

Kentucky vs. Tennessee, 7 ET

The celebration has to be over by now, right? Tennessee knocked off Alabama but now they need to focus up on getting into the College Football Playoffs. They also need to finish the season strong and potentially even win the SEC. Kentucky is having a nice season, and this would be a huge upset if they can win at Tennessee.

Kentucky comes into the game at 5-2, a respectable record that has seen them win games over two ranked opponents on the year. This will only be their third road game of the season, and all three of them have been against ranked opponents. So far, they are just 1-1 in those games. The good for Kentucky is this: their defense has played rather well against pretty much ever team. They are only allowing 16.4 points per game to opponents on the year and aren't even allowing 300 yards per game. The bad news is, they really haven't faced a team as dynamic as Tennessee. I'm not sure that the Wildcats defense can stop Tennessee, but they could slow them down. I'm not sure that Kentucky can keep up the scoring pace that Tennessee might be able to put together.

Tennessee has been spectacular this year. They are looking to go to 8-0 with another home win against a ranked opponent. Hendon Hooker has been awesome all season and their offense has been running on all cylinders. I love seeing the connection between Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. I think that Kentucky will probably struggle to stop Hyatt from finding the endzone. How can they lose this game? To me, they lose if Kentucky can put pressure on Hooker. There really hasn't been a team in the country that has been able to get enough pressure to stop him, but it is possible. If Kentucky starts getting on a roll, we might see trading scores. I don't want to play an overtime game if I am Tennessee.

I'm going to take Tennessee to cover this game through the first half of the game at -7. I like the idea that the Vols will come out and be able to put some points on the board and make it tough in the first half for Kentucky to play. I do think that Tennessee covers for the full game two, but a late score makes me uncomfortable. My one concern about the play is if the Vols take a little while to figure out how to attack Kentucky. Once they start scoring, I don't see them stopping.

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