First Down Kentucky: Funny Depth Charts

The first game week of the season means depth chart time across the college football landscape. Most of the time, these two-deep documents mean nothing. Sometimes coaches will go out of their way to not name a starter or name four co-starters. They are not worth overreacting to but that is hard to do when we’re all starved for games.

Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White doesn’t mean who starts a game is all that important.

“Depth charts are funny to me — that’s play No. 1,” White told the media on Thursday. “You go to our two top-10 draft picks this year, I don’t know how many combined starts they had on the basketball team. But, obviously, they had plenty of talent and they got plenty of play. It’s the same thing in any sport.”

Kentucky has starters but the Wildcats also have backups that will need to play big roles this season. Just because a player is starting in game one does not mean they will play all of the snaps or even lead the position in playing time. Depth charts are fluid and will remain fluid throughout the season.

First Down Kentucky is also a fluid. Next up is a Wednesday practice report during Southern Miss week after the defense spoke with reporters following practice.

Tate Rodemaker is a “good player“

Southern Miss head coach Will Hall has not announced his starting quarterback but everyone has a good idea who it will be. Florida State transfer Tate Rodemaker has moved to Hattiesburg and will be running the offense for new offensive coordinator Chip Long. It would be a shock if the redshirt senior didn’t step on the Kroger Field turf with the rest of the USM starting lineup.

Rodemaker had some game tape thanks to his four years spent in Hattiesburg. The South Georgia native started two games during his collegiate career and brings a respectable skill set to the table.

“Good player. He came in when Jordan Travis went down and played really well,” Brad White about the Southern Miss quarterback. “He can stand up there, he can deliver it, he can spin it. Tall, he can see over the o-line. He’s an adequate mover.”

“He’s a really good player. Made some really good throws in that Florida game.”

Rodemaker started for the Seminoles against Florida last season before being knocked out of the game with a concussion. The transfer landed at Southern Miss where he should have some familiarity with the system. Offensive coordinator Chip Long called plays for current Florida State head coach Mike Norvell at Memphis in 2016. That should make the transition easier for the transfer.

Kentucky will face a former power conference quarterback with some talent on Saturday night.

Kentucky defense will not use Southern Miss loss in 2016 as motivation

The last time that Southern Miss made the trip to Lexington, the Golden Eagles upset the Wildcats as six-point underdogs as offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson got a win over his old team. But that was a different time.

Kentucky’s program is in a different place. The Southern Miss program is in a different place. The 28-point betting spread proves that. The Wildcats do not plan on using what happened nearly a decade ago as motivation.

“We don’t need to look back like that to get motivation. There’s plenty of recent occurrences where if we don’t play well you’re in a dog fight for four quarters,” Brad White told reporters. “Sometimes you’re on the wrong end or close to the wrong end. Our guys understand that.”

Kentucky has played in some recent Group of Five and FCS games that were too close for comfort at Kroger Field. Eastern Kentucky gave the Wildcats a legitimate scare last year. Games against Chattanooga and Northern Illinois were not decided until the fourth quarter. Kentucky knows from recent performances that anything can happen in these games if the Wildcats do not play well.

No helmet communication flexibility

The quarterback never leaves the field in football. That makes the decision easy for offensive staffs when deciding who will wear the helmet communication. The decision is trickier for defensive staffs. There might not be a player on the defense who plays every snap.

“That’s the harder part there on defense,” White said about the helmet technology. Kentucky will not have the option to transfer helmets during the game. The Wildcats must be prepared to play without the helmet communication. Luckily, that is something that everyone is used to.

“We’ve gone so long without it, like, if we have to play some downs without helmet comm, it’s not that big of a deal,” White explained. “It is what it is.”