The Tennessee Volunteers hold a number of advantages heading into their matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. History, talent, and momentum, to name a few.
You can also count health as another one.
The SEC released the first availability report of the week on Wednesday evening, and the Vols are in far better shape than their rivals from the Bluegrass State.
Kentucky has 10 players out and another 7 listed from doubtful to probable. Among those absentees is former Tennessee Vol Gerald Mincey. The ex-UT lineman transferred to Kentucky after the season, and he’s been had an interesting offseason that’s seen him take some not-so-subtle shots at his former team. He’s even recently retweeted on his Twitter account some negative Pro Football Focus grades for Tennessee lineman.
Now, it looks like he won’t be on the field to back up his talk against his former team. Yes, he was out for their last game against Auburn too, but it’s still a shame that Tennessee’s dominant defensive front won’t be able to give him a rude welcome back to Knoxville between the hashmarks.
On the flip side, Tennessee is in far better shape. No new names since the Vols last took the field against Alabama. Squirrel White, who’s been dealing with a banged up shoulder, isn’t even on the report, which is a bit of a surprise to me. Bru McCoy is also not on there. The only questionable players are Caleb Herring and William Satterwhite.
We’ll see when the final report arrives this weekend if they’ll have all hands on deck on Saturday night against the Wildcats.