Early Alarming, and Encouraging, Kentucky Football Stats

It’s unwise to rush to early conclusions only two weeks into the college football season. However, we can use the small data set to learn a thing or two about the Kentucky football team.

Through the early years of the Mark Stoops era, the wide receivers were often criticized as the weak link of the team. That discourse faded away thanks to the play of Lynn Bowden and Wan’Dale Robinson. Last fall a pair of freshmen, Dane Key and Barion Brown, emerged as big-time playmakers by setting new UK freshman records in every statistical category.

Despite the offense’s obvious struggles under Rich Scangarello, the new wide receivers pumped in plenty of optimism about the position. This offseason Cole Cubelic was one of many analysts that believed this could be the best and deepest group of wide receivers the BBN has ever seen in Lexington. The big plays have been there, but they have struggled to fulfill the hype through two weeks thanks to inconsistent play, particularly in the first half.

According to Clark Brooks, the proprietor of SEC Stat Cat, Kentucky pass-catchers have combined for nine drops through two games, leaving 131 yards off the box score. Of Devin Leary’s 69 pass attempts, 14.2% have been drops, more than any other team in the SEC.

It’s still too early to rush to judgment and describe this group of pass-catchers as a bunch of butterfingers. However, it’s clear that there’s plenty of work to be done. Kentucky’s early offensive woes in the passing game aren’t just a Devin Leary problem.

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Encouraging Kentucky Football Stats

Entering the season, the biggest concern surrounding the Kentucky offense was keeping the injury-plagued Kentucky quarterback on his feet. So far, so good.

In 2022 Kentucky allowed more sacks than any other team in the power five. Through two games Leary has only been sacked twice, the second-fewest in the SEC. In true dropback pass sets, he’s only faced pressure five times. The efficiency of the offensive line has also been on display in the run game. They’ve allowed an SEC-best 6.0 tackles for loss and the UK running backs are averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

There's been a good amount of this on tape for Kentucky through 8 quarters. We didn't see this much in September last year. pic.twitter.com/2cbaGegonR

— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) September 12, 2023

I know what you’re thinking, “Shouldn’t they be dominating defensive lines from the FCS and MAC?” Yes, but here’s another thing that should be considered: the Kentucky offensive line has been playing well and they haven’t been at full strength. Last week two opening day starters — Kenneth Horsey and Jeremy Flax — were out and Kentucky had a PFF pass protection grade in the 90s, the highest this blogger can ever remember, thanks to formidable play from Dylan Ray and Courtland Ford.

Even though the Kentucky wide receivers haven’t lived up to lofty expectations in the first two weeks of the season, the Big Blue Wall is showing plenty of promise.