Tennessee enters the back-half of its season as one of the more impressive teams in college football.

The No. 3 Vols (7-0, 3-0 SEC) are one of just two teams in the country that have beaten four ranked teams (TCU is the other) this season, and their prolific offense — headlined by an abundance of talented wide receivers and Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Hendon Hooker — tops the FBS ranks in nearly every category.

As far as national perception goes, Tennessee has gone from a team that had a promising future ahead of head coach Josh Heupel's second season to being one of a very elite few that could reach the College Football Playoff in January.

For the Vols to get there, however, they'll have to manage a four-game stretch to end the regular season that includes three teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25: No. 19 Kentucky, No. 1 Georgia and No. 25 South Carolina.

Two of those games are on the road, but Tennessee hosts Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) at Neyland Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ESPN) for another chance to bolster its resume and take another step in a program resurgence that has been over a decade in the making.

"Big ball game this Saturday. Really good opponent that plays well in all three phases of the game," Heupel said Monday. "The next part of this journey for us is a big one. Got started with our preparation this morning. Our players have got to have a real sense of urgency this week."

Kentucky was one of Tennessee's signature wins in Heupel's first season a year ago. The Vols beat the then-No. 18 Wildcats, 45-42, at Kroger Field in Lexington. It was also Tennessee's first win over a ranked team since 2019.

For the Vols, that victory was among the first signs of the program's upward trajectory under Heupel, one that has since skyrocketed in Year Two with no signs of slowing down.

"I don't believe that there was a psychological hurdle that the program had to get over," Heupel said. "It was a preparation, performance hurdle that we had to get over. (Beating Kentucky last season) was a big win for us as a program, to be able to go do that on the road. You saw the excitement from our players at the end of that ballgame. We were beginning that journey last year. It was one of the steps, one of the hurdles for us to prepare the right way and then go out and execute that led us to play the way that we did on the back-half of the season."

Coaches and their players often pay lip service to preparing for every game the same way, no matter the opponent's standing in the polls or whether or not they're a rival. But the Vols have the evidence to back it up that their preparation has remained the same.

Tennessee has been largely consistent in how its played against teams like Ball State, Akron and UT Martin compared to how it has performed in contests against SEC heavyweights Alabama, LSU and Florida.

Kentucky, which is coming off of a bye week, beat a ranked Mississippi State team in its last outing two weeks ago, but has been up-and-down in its first seven games. The Wildcats beat Florida on the road but lost to Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Quarterback Will Levis sat out of the South Carolina loss with an injury, but has thrown for 1,635 yards and 13 touchdowns and is completing nearly 70% of his passes this season. Running back Chris Rodriquez, who missed the first four games of the season, rushed for nearly 200 yards and two scores against Mississippi State.

Defensively, Kentucky's secondary is third in the SEC in defending the pass, allowing less than 180 yards per game.

Tennessee is currently a double-digit favorite on its home turf and holds a commanding 43-11-6 all-time record against the Wildcats at Neyland Stadium, but don't expect the Vols to go away from the plan that has gotten them this far — even with Georgia looming next week.

"(Kentucky) is very fast on the backend," Hooker said. "They've got some experienced corners. Usually we see them kind of drop off into coverage in previous years. They're bringing more pressure this year. We're excited to go out there and compete at a high level."

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