It’s the bye week for the Kentucky Wildcats, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Wildcats have numerous players out, but one of note is starting running back CJ Baxter. The Texas transfer only played in two snaps last week against Vanderbilt before exiting due to injury. Time will tell what his full status will be after the bye week as Kentucky heads down south to Knoxville, Tennessee, to face off against Josh Heupel and his Volunteers.
Well, the other sideline is waiting to find the full
health of their own star tailback. Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop suffered a right ankle injury late in the Volunteers’ game last week at South Carolina, leaving Vols fans worried as the regular season enters its final phase.
Josh Heupel was asked about the injury and how the elite running back is looking as of right now.
“We feel like he will be in a good spot for next week,” Heupel said this week. “He got some work today. We limited him some today. Part of that was the ankle, but part of that was just the volume he’s gotten in the early part of conference play, too.”
Heupel added, “He’s got a chance to heal up this week, and we’re going to need him at his best as we go down the stretch.”
The Tennessee defense has been elite, but the offense… not so much. It certainly hasn’t been the offense that people remember from the previous years in Knoxville. In conference games, Tennessee is ranked No. 11 in the SEC in scoring and No. 13 in plays over 20 yards, and has only scored over 24 once.
The one bright spot? DeSean Bishop. The junior running back is coming off a year in which he tallied over 1,000 yards, and he is already up to 957 yards through eight games, slotting him No. 2 in the country in yards. Along with the impressive yards total, Bishop has 11 touchdowns on the second-most carries in the country.
This Volunteers team has already made a quarterback change, but it doesn’t matter who is under center; they have just needed to know how to get the ball to Bishop.
This game would look a whole lot different without a healthy Bishop, but it seems like all signs point to a healthy tailback for the Vols on November 7 when Kentucky comes to town.
