Devin Leary managing misfires will be key in Kentucky vs. Florida

Heading into a pivotal SEC West showdown with Florida, Kentucky knows it’ll need the best effort from quarterback Devin Leary, who has been a little up and down through the first month of the season.

Leary has proven capable of making big plays, but he’s also been prone to some head-scratching moments. Florida’s defense is one of the best in the SEC and will be looking to induce the latter on Saturday afternoon.

“They should be able to handle it, but the part that’s been weird about Leary, too, is sometimes he’ll just, it’s like he forgot how to throw the ball,” KSR’s Nick Roush said on the Andy Staples On3 show. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s very unlike him. This guy’s just great, great, great, then all the sudden he’s sailing like a 15-yard in route. Or underthrowing a deep ball. Like that’s not the same guy.”

Through the first four games this season, Leary has thrown for 1,060 yards with a 59.3% completion percentage. He’s thrown for nine touchdowns but has been picked off five times, a troubling trend.

Leary has thrown an interception in every single game so far.

Florida’s defense has come away with only one interception all season and it came on a wildly floated pass as the opposing quarterback was being hit. So it’ll be interesting to see if the Gators can get their hands on a few more balls versus Leary.

“You want to mitigate those moments, and I think through the first four weeks of the season you’ve seen Kentucky clean up and there’s fewer mistakes and there’s a lot more big-play pops, but the mistakes they’re making are also just really bad,” Roush said.

Florida ranks No. 18 nationally in scoring defense, while checking in at No. 5 in total defense. Kentucky might have its hands full trying to throw the ball, too.

The Gators have allowed opponents to throw for just 162.8 yards per game, good for 15th nationally.

Those turnovers just might be key on Saturday for Devin Leary and company.

“If they happen at the wrong time against Florida it could be catastrophic, and that’s kind of what we saw Florida do last go-around, where a blocked kick happens and then, boom, complete game changed right there,” Roush said.

Florida and Kentucky are set to meet at noon ET on Saturday with a broadcast on ESPN.