HARD TO HANDLE
Vols must figure out a way to slow Snell’s pace
KNOXVILLE — The Kentucky Wildcats make no secret about what they want to do offensively: Run the football.
And they have a special player leading the charge.
The challenge for Tennessee’s Volunteers this week as they prepare to host the 12th-ranked Wildcats (7-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) will be stopping the Wildcats’ rushing attack led by junior Benny Snell, who has 1,008 yards rushing and 10 scores this season. Snell already owns the school record with 42 career touchdowns and is second in career rushing yards (3,432) and 100-yard games (16).
He ranks 12th nationally and leads the SEC with 112 rushing yards per game and is a semifinal- ist for the Maxwell Trophy, given to the nation’s player of the year.
“He’s a tough guy,” Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said Monday. “They do a lot with him, lots of wildcat. He obviously can handle what they do. They used him a lot as a freshman — that was the last time I coached against him. He’s very physical, he doesn’t take a lot of one-on-one hits, he runs through with a soft shoulder and it’s tough to hit him squared him, so we have to do a really good job gang-tackling him.”
Snell leads a Kentucky offense that averages 199.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranks fourth in the SEC. Dual-threat quarterback Terry Wilson has 418 yards and three scores on the ground while providing just enough of a passing threat — just enough — to keep teams honest. He threw for 267 yards and the winning score on the final play of the Wildcats’ 15-14 victory at Missouri on Oct. 27 and also had a 100-yard game in the win over Florida and 91 rushing yards against Vanderbilt.
“They have a very experienced offensive line — some older guys that have played together for a while — so they have a lot of experience, a lot of confidence coming into this season, so we’ve got to make sure we do our best job stopping the run,” Vols defensive lineman Kyle Phillips said. “They have a good running back and a mobile quarterback, so it’s going to be very difficult to stop them this week. We have to make sure we do a good job in practice and get some good looks at that.”
Tennessee ranks 10th in the SEC in rushing defense and is in the bottom half of most statistical categories. The Vols did receive a bump last week by keeping Charlotte out of the end zone in a 14-3 win, holding the 49ers to 92 yards rushing and 244 yards total. It was the fewest rushing yards they’d allowed in a game this season.
But it’s been against Power Five competition that the Vols have struggled, allowing 189.7 yards per game. And Saturday’s game will be against the best statistical running back in the league.
To stop Kentucky, they’ll have to stop Snell.
“He’s explosive,” defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. said. “He’s strong; he’s an athlete, an allaround football player. He can catch it out of the backfield and he’s a great runner with the ball in his hands, we’ve all seen that. Just watching him on film, we’ve seen everything he’s done this year. He’s a problem on that football field and statistically wise, you can see all the things he’s done.
“He’s a great player.”
“... Just watching him on film, we’ve seen everything he’s done this year. He’s a problem on that football field ...”
– TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE BACK TODD KELLY JR. ON KENTUCKY’S BENNY SNELL JR.
Injury update
Pruitt said during Monday’s news conference that freshman safety Trevon Flowers will be a game-time decision this week after missing the past four games with a collarbone injury. The 5-foot-11, 184-pound Flowers started the West Virginia game and played in five games, recording nine tackles and breaking up a pass. He started working out some last week and will continue that this weekend.
Senior Micah Abernathy was going to start doing some work this week after missing the last four games with an ankle injury.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Pruitt said.