Kentucky wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson against LSU

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — For nearly two months there wasn’t anything to grumble about with the University of Kentucky football team.

Six consecutive victories, including four against Southeastern Conference opponents. A victory against Florida that sent everybody onto the turf at Kroger Field. A dominating win over Louisiana State that helped push LSU coach Ed Orgeron out of his job.

Even the Wildcats’ loss to top-ranked Georgia drew praise from many national observers.

Then the Wildcats retreated in a two-touchdown defeat at Mississippi State last weekend. They got pushed around across both lines of scrimmages. They made Bulldogs’ quarterback Will Rogers look like the Heisman Trophy frontrunner.

And, they annoyed their head coach Mark Stoops with the uninspired effort. Now the No. 18 Wildcats face a rivalry game against unranked Tennessee, which has also lost its last two games. After opening as a 4-point favorite on Sunday, the Wildcats slid to underdog status by Thursday evening at VegasInsider.com.

TIME: Saturday, 7 p.m., Kroger Field, Lexington, Ky.

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN: TV — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, play by play; Kirk Morrison, analyst; Dawn Davenport, sidelines); RADIO — UK Radio Network, WHAS 840 AM (Tom Leach, play by play; Jeff Piecoro, analyst; Dick Gabriel, sidelines).

THE LINE: Point spread — Tennessee favored by 1; over/under total points is 57.

THE LAST TIME: Kentucky won 34-7 in Knoxville last season.

THE RECORDS: Kentucky is 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. This will be the Wildcats’ final home SEC game; Tennessee is 4-4, 3-2, with three losses against ranked opponents.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

PLAYER TO WATCH TENNESSEE: Quarterback Hendon Hooker transferred from Virginia Tech and has delivered an outstanding season, completing better than 68 percent of his passes with 17 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Hooker played five straight games without an interception before throwing one against Alabama. He has also rushed for 417 yards and four touchdowns.

PLAYER TO WATCH KENTUCKY: Kentucky receiver Wan’Dale Robinson ranks fourth in the SEC in receiving yards with 659 and five scores. But after starting the season with three consecutive games with more than 100 yards, Robinson has averaged 64 yards in UK’s last five games.

SIDELINE STORYLINES: Kentucky will try to defeat the Vols in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1976 and 1977 … the game is listed as Kentucky’s third consecutive sellout … Kentucky can clinch second place in the SEC East and maintain its shot at 10 regular season wins for the third time in program history with a victory … the Wildcats (5-0) are unbeaten at Kroger Field this season … Stoops and Tennessee first-year coach Josh Heupel worked together at Arizona in 2005 and Heupel played quarterback at Oklahoma for Stoops’ brother, Bob … Tennessee linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary coached for Charlie Strong at Louisville from 2010-13… in their last game at Alabama on Oct. 23, the Vols trailed the Crimson Tide 31-24 with less than 13 minutes to play before Bama scored three consecutive touchdowns to win 52-24.

THE QUOTE: Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, discussing the challenge of playing UK:

“I mean they’re big, strong, physical, do a great job of getting a hat on a hat. You’ve watched them, they get a ton of movement up front in distorting and changing the line of scrimmage. We’ve got to do a great job of communication, first and second level. Third level as well when the safeties are in the fit. And then we’ve got to have some block destruction, too, and be able to make plays when we get off of it.”

THE PICK: Kentucky 31, Tennessee 27.

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