Braylon Staley laid the foundation multiple times.

The Tennessee football receiver understands what Kentucky brings to the table on Saturday: a sound football team in a game that is all but likely to be a College Football Playoff elimination game. The No. 8 Wildcats have been a surprise success under first-year head coach Will Stein, and it's all because they’ve been a sound football team. It’s something the Vols could learn from.

Kentucky enters the 6:15 p.m. kickoff inside Neyland Stadium as one of the least penalized teams in the country. The Wildcats only commit about 4.5 penalties per game for 42 yards.

Tennessee comes off a bye week, but penalties were the exact reason the Vols were unable to end up in the win column the last time on the field.

The Vols committed 12 penalties in a loss to South Carolina. Three resulted in negated touchdowns in the 27-24 walk-off defeat. Kentucky is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Because of how cleanly the Wildcats play football, they’ve come out on the right side of one-score affairs late — including back-to-back one-point wins in overtime against Florida and LSU.

The more sound team should win on Saturday. Tennessee will need to prove it is that team after a week on the practice field, reverting to the fundamentals.

“They finished extremely well, a couple two-point conversions to win,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “Comes down to doing ordinary things at a really high level – communication, not hurting yourself with penalties, doing your job and 11 guys operating as one.”

Kenny Minchey will handle the snaps from the opposing team on Saturday. The Middle Tennessee native spent three seasons as a reserve at Notre Dame before Kentucky imported him in as Stein’s prodigy. That experiment has worked to elevate Kentucky into an offensive threat it wasn’t quite under Mark Stoops.

Minchey has led Kentucky to 32.9 points per game while commanding an efficient 69% completion percentage. Minchey’s 1,755 passing yards aren’t flashy, but he’s supported by a running game that averages 167 yards per game.

Most importantly, the transfer signal-caller doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s compiled a 14-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season. That’s why the Wildcats are one of the nation’s best in turnover margin, at plus-13.

“Defensively, we’ve got to control the line of scrimmage,” Heupel said. “You’ve got to get them into third-and-long situations. You’ve got to get them off the field. There’s a lot of eye-candy – shift, trade, motion – before the snap, so communication (at) all three levels of the defense, playing in sync, will be critical in this one, too.”

Of course, winning the turnover battle also helps Kentucky. And having a pair of four-interception defensive backs to generate turnovers has vaulted the Wildcats into free possessions. Ty Bryant and Jordan Castell will be an issue for Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre, who presumes to hold onto his starting spot for the fourth straight game.

Tennessee knows the challenges that’ll be thrown by Stein’s feisty Kentucky squad.

“That's a very sound football team,” Staley said.

Source: Yahoo Sports