Tennessee will enter Saturday night’s SEC showdown with Kentucky looking as clean as it has all week on the availability front.
The final report ahead of kickoff shows no new changes for the 13th-ranked Volunteers, who are set to meet the sixth-ranked Wildcats at 6:15 p.m. ET in Neyland Stadium. Tennessee comes in at 6-2, while Kentucky is 7-1, and both teams are still squarely in the playoff conversation as November heats up.
For Tennessee, the biggest takeaway is simple: the list didn’t change from Friday to Saturday. The Vols had already avoided any major surprises throughout the week, and that continued into game day. That matters after the bye week, especially with Tennessee trying to stay as healthy as possible for the final four games of the season.
The Volunteers already have six players who are regulars on the report because of season-ending injuries, but there were no additional names added when the week opened Wednesday night. That includes running back DeSean Bishop, who had appeared to be dealing with something late in Tennessee’s loss at South Carolina two weeks ago. As things stand, Tennessee looks to be in good shape heading into this stretch run.
Tennessee’s out list for Saturday includes:
ILB Antwan Smith
ILB Justyn Hartley
DB Jaden Smith
DB Grant Grayton
Kentucky also made a couple of late moves on its side of the report. DB Isaiah McMillian and OLB Sam Greene were both upgraded from probable to active on Saturday.
With both teams carrying top-15 rankings into the matchup, the availability report adds one more layer to a game that already has plenty of weight attached to it.
In Other News...
Kentucky Player Tries To Explain Away Neyland After Tennessee Blowout
Tennessees win over Kentucky added another layer of postgame noise when backup tight end Mikkel Skinner took to a TikTok live stream and claimed the Volunteers were pumping in fake crowd noise at Neyland Stadium. Skinner suggested the volume on defensive third downs sounded more like speakers than a real home crowd, a charge that landed with plenty of attention given the atmosphere Tennessee typically brings on Saturdays in Knoxville.
The allegation was quickly met with a public denial from Tennessee athletic director Danny White, who pushed back on the idea that the stadium sound was manufactured. Similar claims have surfaced before and never been verified, but they tend to follow big Tennessee home games, especially when the crowd becomes part of the story as much as the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Playoff Push Just Took A Brutal Hit On Defense
Tennessees playoff chase picked up a major complication in the win over Kentucky, when pass-rusher Tyree Weathersby went down with a serious knee injury and will miss the rest of the season. Weathersby has been the Vols most disruptive edge presence, leading the team with seven sacks, and his absence leaves a noticeable hole in a defense that had counted on him to help close out games down the stretch.
With three games left, Tennessee now has to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive without its top sack producer. The timing is especially tough because the margin for error is already thin, and replacing that kind of pressure off the edge is never simple this late in the year. [Read more 🡒]
Arion Carter Just Sent Tennessees Defense A Bigger Message
Arion Carters afternoon against Kentucky fit right into what Tennessee has been leaning on all season: a defense that can take over a game and make an opponent feel stuck in place. The senior linebacker was everywhere in the 34-6 win, finishing with 13 tackles, four for loss and two sacks, and the Southeastern Conference rewarded him by naming him SEC Defensive Player of the Week. It was the kind of performance that underscored just how disruptive Tennessee has been when its front seven is rolling.
The bigger takeaway for the Volunteers is that this was not an isolated flash. Tennessees defense has already shut down other top-ranked teams this season, and Carters latest statement only adds to the sense that this unit is built for the biggest stages. The next test comes against Texas A&M, where the Volunteers will find out whether that same edge can travel into another SEC spotlight. [Read more 🡒]