Tennessee has the challenge Saturday night of trying to force mistakes against a team that rarely makes them.
The Kentucky Wildcats have committed five turnovers through their first eight games, including one interception. They have also racked up 18 turnovers defensively, with their plus-1.63 turnover margin per game leading the Southeastern Conference and ranking fourth nationally.
“They’ve got an overall smart team,” Tennessee junior defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam said earlier this week in a news conference. “They don’t really make too many mistakes. You’re not going to see too many plays by them messed up or busted.
“For us, we just need to do what we do. I feel like this is a regular game for us, and if we go out there with that type of mentality, I feel like we’re going to see the result we need.”
The biggest Tennessee-Kentucky game in 75 years will be televised by ESPN and is scheduled to kick off at 6:15 inside Neyland Stadium, with the Volunteers 6-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play and the Wildcats 7-1 and 5-1.