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Tennessee Football Prepared to Face Two Quarterbacks Against Kentucky

The Vols know they need to be ready for a different look on Saturday.

Tanner Johnson

Sep 28, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Gavin Wimsatt (2) gives direction before the snap during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Sep 28, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Gavin Wimsatt (2) gives direction before the snap during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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After having a weekend off, Tennessee football will be facing Kentucky in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night. 

The Wildcats have struggled mightily this season on offense and defense. The offensive struggles have led to some quarterback controversies. Brock Vandagriff and Gavin Wimsatt both split time against Auburn amidst the struggles to put up points and move the ball. Neither quarterback had much success and each threw an interception in the 24-10 loss to the Tigers.

Now, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday that he is preparing his team for the possibility of facing both quarterbacks on Saturday.

“I think defensively you always got to know who the No. 2 is and have a plan for him," Heupel said. "It can be through injury or them playing multiple guys. Your defensive players need to understand what type of player that is. Certainly for them, the quarterback run game is always a part of it. Second half of last week, (Kentucky) played the younger kid and for us, we got to do a great job of controlling the quarterback run game."

Wimsatt is more of a running threat than Vandagriff, which is what Heupel was alluding to in his comments. Tennessee has plenty of experience this season handling backup quarterbacks. Florida was forced to finish the game with D.J. Lagway after the injury to Graham Mertz knocked him out of the game. The Vols' defense will have to be disciplined if they are going to be ready for Wimsatt's running packages.

"That’s a huge part of it," Heupel said. "Understanding this game, there’s limited opportunities, and I’m just talking about possessions during it, during the course of the game, all three phases got to play that well together. For us, within the scope of what we’re doing schematically, play assignment sound. You got to rally, you got to go make tackles in space and certainly when it’s quarterback run game, your eyes, your keys got to take you to make those plays.”

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Tanner Johnson
TANNER JOHNSON

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