First Glance: Kentucky

Kentucky began the season as one of the best stories in the Southeastern Conference and college football in general. Consecutive road losses, in which both were one-sided, have brought the Wildcats back down to earth following the 6-0 start.

So, will it be the same old Kentucky team when Tennessee travels to Lexington on Saturday? I’d argue so, but like recent years, it’s a team that can beat you when you’re not coming into the game prepared. After all, Kentucky drilled Tennessee at Neyland Stadium last season, are the home-favorite and ranked as high as 12th in the Associated Press poll this season.

The ‘Cats started the season with victories over Louisiana Monroe, Missouri, UTC, South Carolina, Florida and LSU but have since fallen on the road to both Georgia and Mississippi State by an average margin of 15 points. Both teams shut down Kentucky’s run game and put the game in the hands of transfer quarterback Will Levis.

The win over Eli Drinkwitz looked good at the time, but no one predicted the struggles to come defensively for that unit. Kentucky also needed a near football field-length of an interception from Tyrell Ajian in the fourth quarter to hold off the Fighting Mocs of UTC back in September.

So, Kentucky has been a bit all over the map in 2021.

Levis, formerly of Penn State, won the job out of camp over Joey Gatewood and Beau Allen. Gatewood has since entered the transfer Portal, so it’s been the former Nittany Lion’s team under first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

Eddie Gran and Darrin Hinshaw are no more in Lexington, though this Kentucky offense looks pretty similar to those of year’s past.

It’s a unit that relies on the run game an awful lot with Chris Rodriguez Jr. – who is second behind Missouri’s Tyler Badie in rushing among SEC tailbacks. It shrinks the game and depends on its defense to bail them out.

Kentucky’s 26 pass attempts per game and 19 first downs a contest rank 12th in the league. Mark Stoops’ club is last in the SEC with 61 plays a game.

Nebraska transfer Wan’Dale Robinson has been the undisputed go-to guy for Levis – hauling in 58 receptions for 645 yards and five touchdowns on the season. Leading receiver from last year’s squad, Josh Ali, is second on the team with only 19 receptions for 257 yards with a touchdown.

Tight end Justin Rigg and wideout Isaiah Epps are the only other Wildcats who boast double-digit receptions on the season. The latter would be the one who closest resembles a deep-threat option, averaging 15 yards a catch.

Levis is completing 66 percent of his passes for 1,476 yards in eight games. He’s thrown for 14 touchdowns but has nine interceptions in the process. The first-year starter is third on the team with 252 yards gained on the ground and has found the end zone three times via the run.

Rodriguez Jr. has compiled an impressive 809 yards on 135 rushing attempts this season, scoring five times on the ground and twice more through the air. The junior averages 101 yards an outing. Backup Kavosiey Smoke has totaled 296 yards with a touchdown on the year.

Overall, Kentucky’s offense averages 27 points on 366 yards of total offense a contest. It’s extremely balanced at 191-to-175 passing-to-rushing yards a game and possesses the football for 30 minutes on average. It’s converting 47 percent on third downs and has scored on 24-of-28 redzone opportunities with 21 touchdowns.

The Wildcats have turned it over 16 times and given up 13 sacks on the season.

Defensively, it’s a lot of the same for Stoops – and it’s pretty good. The unit yields just 20 points on 335 yards of total offense a game to opponents, stats that rank fourth and fifth in the conference. It’s allowing a modest 116 yards on the ground and holding team’s to just 41 percent on third downs.

Stoops’ group has seen an uptick in pass-rush compared to last season with 16 sacks in eight games. But it’s been abysmal in creating turnovers as the squad has just four on the year. Opponents have scored 16 touchdowns on 24 redzone chances.

It’s a linebacker-heavy defense with Jacquez Jones leading the way. The Ole Miss transfer leads the team with 64 tackles and has one of just three interceptions for the unit. Fellow inside linebacker DeAndre Square is second with 61 tackles but totals 8.5 tackles for loss and has forced a fumble on three sacks this season.

Defensive end Josh Paschal has been good up front – registering a team-best 10.5 TFLs with a forced fumble on the year. Justin Rogers, Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald and Josiah Hayes rotate as the bigger bodies in the multiple-front.

2020 SEC All-Freshman JJ Weaver is having a solid sophomore season. The outside linebacker has compiled 6.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks and with an interception. Jordan Wright and freshman Trevin Wallace are also multiple in the second-layer of the defense.

In the backend, free safety Yusuf Corker and cornerback Carrington Valentine are third and fourth on the team in tackles with 51 and 43 stops. Strong safety Tyrell Ajian has a pick on the year while STAR Davante Robinson and corners Quandre Moseley and Cedrick Dork round out the secondary rotation.

For Tennessee, the scouting report is simple. Run the football effectively to set up the offense. The Wildcats have not shown the ability to keep up with fast-paced offenses who score points this season. Defensively, shut down the run as Kentucky was held to a combined 117 rushing yards the past two weeks in losses.

Stoops will try and shrink the game and make it ugly. The Volunteers’ defense will experience a complete 180 in terms of pace and plays per game, compared to the last two games with Ole Miss and Alabama. Tennessee’s defense was on the field for a combined 193 snaps in a two-week span.

And it’s Kentucky. Though there’s talent there and it’s a top-25 team, this is a program Tennessee has had great success over. No doubt the fan base wants this to be a victory and no doubt the players inside that locker room want to avenge the 34-7 defeat that took place last season inside Neyland Stadium.