Tennessee vs. Kentucky Won't Be an Easy Win for Vols Like in the Past

The earlier date on the schedule isn't the only thing different about Tennessee's annual football game with Kentucky this year. 

The Wildcats are no longer doormats. So, when the Volunteers meet their next-door neighbors in Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon—a couple of weeks earlier in November than usual—it really will be a playoff-type atmosphere.

Head coach Mark Stoops' Cats need one more win to become bowl-eligible. Butch Jones' Vols need two.

Though Tennessee is favored by a little more than a touchdown on OddsShark.com this week, it's anybody's game.

That's a far cry from a series that has laughed in the face of the word "rivalry" in recent years. Though the two schools are just 173 miles apart, the gulf between the football programs has been much wider, as UT has won 28 of the past 29 by an average of 20 points.

That's no longer the case. The two programs' seasons are extremely similar. 

The Vols have played a tougher schedule so far and have four wins. The Wildcats' is more back-loaded, and they have five.

Both have a tough road to a bowl. Both upset South Carolina dramatically. Both played Florida extremely close before losing. Both play a lot of youngsters and have second-year coaches.

Though the Wildcats have fallen off and lost four straight after a 5-1 start, they took No. 1 Mississippi State to the brink before getting handled by Missouri and Georgia the past two weeks.

So, why is UK no longer known as the "Mildcats," the team that has beaten UT just seven times since 1959?

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Reporter Kyle Tucker of Louisville's The Courier-Journal newspaper told Bleacher Report there are several factors, but it all starts with a Stoops-influenced defense and 6'5", 240-pound redshirt sophomore quarterback Patrick Towles.

"The big difference: a quarterback who can (doesn't always) raise his game to an elite level and make NFL throws and a defense that, while pretty atrocious against the run, can force turnovers," Tucker said. "The Cats only intercepted three passes a year ago; 13 so far this season.

"Yes, [Towles] can take over games, but he's also disappeared some down the stretch here. UK needs the guy back who had 390-plus total yards three times this season, including against Florida and Mississippi State."

Like Tennessee, Kentucky's defense has made some big, pivotal plays. Also like the Vols, they've had lapses where they've played atrociously, allowing 41 points to LSU, 45 to Mississippi State and 63 last week to Georgia.

But having a really good quarterback covers a lot of warts. There have been several games where Towles has picked up his team and carried it on his shoulders with his cannon arm and able legs. He's the best NFL prospect at the position in the league.

Having him directing the opponent makes a really good football game possible on Saturday. It also makes for an intriguing atmosphere that UT quarterback and fellow potential pro prospect Joshua Dobbs told VolQuest.com's John Brice and Rob Lewis (subscription required) will have a do-or-die feel:

"

Coach Jones has definitely said it's a three-game playoff. We want to win all three games obviously. We have to start with this one. We have to come out Saturday ready to play. Our goal is to get to five wins and they stand in our path. Our goal is to do whatever it takes to move them out of the way, get win number five and then move on from there.

"

Even in their worst years, that hasn't been too difficult for the Vols. Beating Kentucky is tradition. But it won't be that easy this season, thanks to Stoops. He has recruited some players in there, and it is already paying dividends.

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The Wildcats may not always know what they're doing, but they've got athletic freshmen and sophomores all over that defense and have a future offensive star in Boom Williams at running back.

He highlighted a recruiting class in 2014 that was among UK's best ever, ranking 23rd in the country on the 247Sports composite rankings.

"There are four former 4-star recruits in the backfield, led by freshman Stanley 'Boom' Williams, one of just two players in the country with a catch of 25-plus yards, run of 50-plus and kick return of 75-plus," Tucker said. "He's a big-time playmaker, one of just six players with three TD runs of 50 yards or longer, including one last week against UGA.

"Safety A.J. Stamps is a JUCO addition who has made a major difference in the secondary."

Beyond the numbers in the rankings, though, it's obvious that Kentucky now isn't the same as Kentucky of old. Sure, the Wildcats fade in stretches against good teams that are more established, more talented, deeper and have been playing at a higher level longer. 

But those flashes of competitiveness are getting longer and longer.

It's the same frustratingly slow signs of maturity the Vols see when they're looking in the proverbial mirror. These are programs in the pubescent stages of competition, and this is a massive game for the long-term complexion of both.

Whichever team comes out on top will not only have a leg up in making it to a bowl game this year, but they'll hold bragging rights in a series that hasn't meant much in a long time but looks like it's trending in that direction in the future of a wide-open SEC East.

Tennessee may be recruiting the type of talent that can put the Vols back near the top of the league, competing for a spot in the SEC Championship Game.

But Kentucky can't be shrugged off anymore, not with Stoops recruiting in Ohio and Florida the way he is, not with a blossoming star at quarterback and not with some underclassmen who double as playmakers.

The Vols may wind up doing what its fanbase expects and handling the Wildcats yet again on Saturday. But if they do, it'll be another impressive step for the program and a nice encore to the "Comeback in Columbia."

All stats and information taken from UTSports.com. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.