Let’s address the defense-sized hole in the wall this season for the Tennessee Volunteers.

There’s already talk that Tennessee’s defense might not be strong enough to compete for a spot in the 4-team national championship bracket. For all their offensive prowess, the Vols will falter once they meet an offense that can match them. Or so it is said. The Vols surrender just more than 420 yards a game, 103rd in the nation, after all.

But a look at the numbers alters the perspective. The Vols have the 2nd best run defense in the Southeastern Conference through Week 8, behind Georgia. Perhaps it’s because teams realize Tennessee’s secondary is weakened, or maybe it’s because the Vols face more plays than most other defenses. Whatever the reason, opponents average 90.86 yards a game on the ground against the Vols.

Opponents average just less than 32 rushes a game against Tennessee, the 3rd lowest total in the SEC. Adjusting for the SEC average in rushing attempts a game, Tennessee is still a top-5 rush defense in the the conference. Vols opponents average 2.89 yards a carry against Rodney Garner’s group – and that’s against solid rushing teams such as Florida, Alabama, Pitt and LSU.

So where does Kentucky fall in all of this? Tennessee’s quest for 8-0 this weekend must first go through the 19th-ranked Wildcats and Chris Rodriguez, who got preseason notice as one of the top running backs in the SEC.

Rodriguez missed the first 4 games of the year with a suspension and was held to low numbers in his return against Ole Miss. He since has looked like his old self against South Carolina and Mississippi State, however.

The Wildcats rank as the 2nd-worst run offense in the SEC. But blame for the team’s rushing woes fall more to the offensive line than to Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke.

Rodriguez is back in the groove. In Kentucky’s win against Mississippi State, he totaled 197 yards on 31 carries, with 2 touchdowns. The tenacious runner now has had consecutive games with more than 125 yards, and is 4 yards short of matching the rushing totals for the rest of the Wildcats offense combined. Kentucky without Rodriguez has rushed for 399 yards in 7 games. He alone has rushed for 395 yards in 3 games.

Rodriguez’s return does a few things for the Wildcats. It takes pressure off Will Levis to be a quarterback who can never make a mistake. And it gives the UK offense a chance of not being so one-dimensional with a poor offensive line.

That’s what gives them hope against good run defenses – Rodriguez potentially opens the entire field based on respect for his brutal running alone.

But it won’t work against Tennessee on Saturday. If the Wildcats want to keep up with the Vols, their stout defense is going to have to work overtime. Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White will have his hands full.

No team has rushed for more than 150 yards against this Vols unit. At Neyland Stadium, even with a rusher of Rodriguez’s caliber, that doesn’t figure to change any time soon. Kentucky will try to establish the run early. Every other team that has tried that in Knoxville this season has found it doesn’t work out.

The Wildcats do not match up well with the Vols this season, even with Tennessee missing a big portion of its secondary. Jaylen McCollough’s status remains uncertain after his arrest on an assault charge. Brandon Turnage, Kamal Hadden and Christian Charles also question marks, but were held out against UT Martin to rest, according to coach Josh Heupel. If 2 out of 4 of those players become available Saturday, life gets tougher for Kentucky coach Mark Stoops and his team.

The Wildcats are hungry for an upset of the Vols and emboldened by their defeat of then-No. 16 Mississippi State a few weeks ago. Stoops and offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello have had an open week to study Tennessee’s defensive line.

But that’s another area that favors the Vols. The reason the Wildcats have struggled on the ground this season is not necessarily their rushers, but their blockers. Sure, the Wildcats are better running the ball than in pass protection. But will it make of a difference against a Tennessee defensive line that has manhandled competent offensive lines all season? Kentucky has had to go with one running back and three tight ends often this season to address these issues.

Levis has not been perfect, but his arm talent is not suspect. He and Rodriguez, and by extension Kentucky, are always going to be held back when the offensive line is not playing at their best. Levis isn’t given time to go through progressions, and Rodriguez can only do so much with the same fate. But with his talent, he can sometimes even make that work.

The Big Blue Wall stepped it up slightly against Mississippi State and the Wildcats won fairly convincingly. They’ll have to do it again or the Wildcats could be in trouble.