Five things we know about Kentucky

Kentucky enters the bye week in the 2022 season at 5-2 with a .500 record in conference play. The Wildcats have recorded two upset wins to this point in the season and were a play away from a third in a three-point road loss to top-10 Ole Miss.

Looking ahead, Kentucky has four more conference games before ending the season with the annual Governor’s Cup game. The Cats have two games with top-five opponents to go along with two more division games. There is still a lot to play for.

Before diving into what is a seismic matchup with No. 3 Tennessee next week, now feels like a good time to see where Kentucky stands. These are the five things we’ve learned through 28 quarters of football.

Will Levis is one of college football’s top quarterbacks

At the end of the draft season in April, quarterback Will Levis started to generate buzz as those in the scouting community began to move into the next year’s crop. The former Penn State transfer put up strong performances against the only top-10 defenses — Georgia and Iowa — he saw in 2021.

Many scoffed at the notion that Levis was one of the top quarterbacks in college football. However, the redshirt senior has looked the part through seven games this season. Kentucky’s QB1 has statistically been of the top passers in the country.

• 69.5% completion rate (T-17 nationally)
• 10.0 yards per attempt (No. 4 nationally)
• 173.32 QB rating (No. 8 nationally)
• 9 forty-plus yards completion (T-3 nationally)

It would be very difficult to argue that Levis is not a top-five quarterback in the sport right now. The veteran has taken a bunch of sacks, but when you remove those the quarterback has posted a very high success rate (53%) and explosive pass rate (23.2%). The former is higher than Will Rogers (51.7%), and the latter is higher than Hendon Hooker (22.9%).

Kentucky is getting high-level QB play, and the big plays should continue for the passing offense as long as there is protection for the star quarterback.

Brad White’s defense is legit

Kentucky’s defense entered the season with five super seniors in the starting lineup and what appeared to be a high floor for the group. However, there were legitimate worries about the lack of star power. That hasn’t come into play through seven games because Kentucky is playing excellent team defense.

The Cats certainly look like a top-15 unit to this point in the season. The data backs that up.

• Scoring: 16.4 (No. 12 overall)
• Success Rate: 36% (No. 11 overall)
• Yards Per Attempt: 6.2 (T-16 overall)
• Red Zone Possessions: 11 (T-11 overall)

Kentucky enters the bye week ranking No. 20 in defensive EPA as this unit doesn’t have a real weakness to this point of the season and does just about everything well. The Cats are getting high-level play by playing excellent team defense. The coaching staff is putting in good plans, and the players are executing those plans on Saturdays.

The team could make some noise to close the season, and the defense is a big reason why.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. is still a dude

It will be hard for Chris Rodriguez Jr. to make another All-SEC team after the redshirt senior tailback missed the first four games of the season due to suspension. However, No. 24 is still a very good football player.

We’ve seen Rodriguez play three SEC games, and the veteran is getting better with each outing. The McDonough (Ga.) Ola product gave Kentucky one of the best performances of his career against Mississippi State on Saturday going for 197 yards on a career-high 31 attempts. Once again, the Kentucky tailback is an efficiency monster.

Rodriguez owns a 58.3 percent success rate on 72 rushing attempts this season as he has turned a very bad Kentucky rushing attack into a good rushing attack overnight. That is opening some things up for the offense and making things easier for Will Levis.

Opposing defenses now must focus on stopping No. 24 and that could lead to some big things for Kentucky’s throw game down the stretch.

Special teams are an issue

Before getting into the bad, let’s talk about the good. Kentucky’s return game has been excellent this season. It mostly starts and ends with true freshman Barion Brown who returned a kick for a touchdown in the season-opening win against Miami (Ohio) and had two huge returns against Ole Miss to create instant scoring opportunities. Subbing in for Tayvion Robinson on punt return last week, Brown made multiple people miss on his way to another return touchdown that was negated by penalties. The rookie has been sensational.

Now to the bad.

On field goal and extra point, snapping and holding issues have led to numerous miscues with both PAT attempts against Florida and Ole Miss. The kickoff return defense has been leaky, and snapping issues also showed up against the Gators giving the home team two points.

Overall, the third phase has taken a lot of points off of the scoreboard and has hurt the team to this point in the season. Kentucky will need to be much cleaner in the kicking to close the game. The Cats cannot afford any more inefficiencies.

Kentucky has signature win opportunities remaining

The injury to Will Levis came at the worst time for Kentucky as the team had to play South Carolina without their star quarterback and dropped a home game to the Gamecocks. That put Kentucky in a hole and nearly jeopardized the season.

Kentucky bounced back and showed resolve against ranked Mississippi State before entering the bye week pretty banged up. The Cats are working to get healthy so the team can enter the final stretch close to full strength.

Winning an SEC East crown feels like a long shot, but there are multiple chances to record a signature win to close the season. Kentucky is projected to be a touchdown-plus favorite in three games — Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Louisville — to close the year. Meanwhile, the Cats are also projected to be a touchdown-plus underdog against Tennessee and Georgia. There are chances to end this season on a high note.

Next week, Kentucky will head to Rocky Top and face an undefeated Tennessee team who will be getting Heisman Trophy buzz for Hendon Hooker, national coach of the year buzz for Josh Heupel, and College Football Playoff buzz. Everyone is ready to see the Vols take on Georgia on Nov. 5. The Cats have a great chance to play spoiler.

Fast forward to Nov. 19, and Kentucky will host the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs at home. Kirby Smart’s program could very well be 10-0 when UGA makes that trip north to Lexington. The Cats will have a shot at recording one of the biggest home wins in program history.

Of course, Kentucky also hosts Louisville to end the season with another opportunity to record a big win over their in-state rival.

The Big Blue still has a lot to play for and will be on some big stages to end the year. Landing a signature win would go a long way in helping this program continue its climb up the SEC ladder.