Explosive plays lead Kentucky to blowout win over Akron

Kentucky’s offense is no longer a ground-and-pound operation. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen and quarterback Devin Leary are committed to throwing the football around the yard in 2023. That was obvious in the first game and remained so in Week 3. But this is no dink-and-dunk operation that wants to beat defenses with efficiency.

The Wildcats have been big-play hunting on offense this season. Those explosive plays showed up on Saturday in a 35-3 win against Akron that saw Coen’s offense roll up 9.2 yards per play and score 35 points in 10 possessions.

Splash plays ignite scoring drives

We finally saw Kentucky get off to a fast start as the offense put together a first-possession touchdown drive to start the game. That drive got started with a Devin Leary 39-yard completion to Ray Davis on the first snap. The early down explosive play told us what was coming.

Big gain early. @DevinLeary1 ➡️ @Ray_Davis07

📺 – @ESPNU: https://t.co/AGVI88bQGU pic.twitter.com/q1StWs57dk

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 16, 2023

Kentucky ended the game with nine plays of 20-plus yards. The Wildcats scored three touchdowns on explosive plays with Leary finding Tayvion Robinson for a 22-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal, Leary escaping pressure and hitting Davis for a 58-yard run-after-catch score, and finally a 55-yard touchdown run by Davis.

The Wildcats were not done there.

In the fourth quarter, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye ripped off a 42-yard run that set up the final touchdown of the game. At the end of the day, explosives led the way.

Leary averaged 12.1 yards per attempt, and Kentucky’s tailbacks rolled up 165 yards on 16 carries (10.3 yards per rush). Kentucky was explosive on Saturday night. That’s something that will not go away. Coen’s unit is built to hit home runs.

Defense bows up in situational football

Defensive coordinator Brad White saw his Kentucky defense put together an excellent game on Saturday night at Kroger Field. The Wildcats did not give up a touchdown in 11 possessions, allowed only 3.6 yards per play, racked up seven tackles for loss, and logged six pass breakups. The Wildcats got solid production from all three levels, but the biggest plays were made in situational football.

Akron was 6 of 16 (37.5%) on third and fourth down. When scoring opportunities were created, Kentucky found a way to get off the field.

In five possessions, Akron created a first-and-10 inside the Kentucky 40. The Zips came away with only three points. A Trevin Wallace third down sack got the part in the second quarter and led to a missed 47-yard field goal. Wallace would do the same in the third quarter to lead to an Akron 36-yard field goal. The game would ultimately end when true freshman Tommy Ziesmer recorded a walk-off sack in the red zone.

Games are often won with situational football. Kentucky’s defense dominated in the most important snaps on Saturday night.