3 Kentucky players to watch against Clemson

Kentucky departs for the Gator Bowl on Christmas Day with practices at the University of North Florida beginning on Tuesday. Bowl season has a officially arrived and Mark Stoops‘ team has big opportunity awaiting them in Jacksonville.

No. 22 Clemson (8-4, 4-4) will face unranked Kentucky (7-5, 3-5) in yet another bowl matchup after seeing each other in the Peach Bowl (1993) and two Music City Bowls (2006, 2009). This postseason game will give the Wildcats a chance to close a rocky season on high note with consecutive victories over ranked ACC teams.

Add in some of the Clemson opt-outs and there is good reason to believe that Kentucky can leave EverBank Stadium with a victory. These are the players that will need to play well to get the Cats into the winner’s circle.

Fitting the run

Clemson uses tempo on offense. It’s not full on NASCAR tempo like Tennessee, but this is an offense that will not huddle and often looks to the sideline to get plays in quickly. The Tigers ranks inside the top-10 in snaps per game. Kentucky must be ready to defend tempo and might not have many opportunities to sub with Clemson often keeping the same personnel on the field.

Under first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, the traditional running attack leads the way for the Tigers. Phil Mafah and Will Shipley have combined to record 27 rush attempts per game. To slow down Clemson, defenses must slow down Mafah and Shipley.

Against Tennessee, the Wildcats did not fit the run well when tempo was an added element. Clemson will be a much different challenge due to less spacing used in formations but they will still attempt to spread Kentucky out. Going back to that home loss against the Vols, Kentucky’s off-ball linebackers had a rough outing. That cannot happen on Friday afternoon.

D’Eryk Jackson leads Kentucky in tackles (81) and is third in tackles for loss (6.5). Jackson owns a solid missed tackle rate (10.1%) and has been very good in the box this season. The Wildcats will need the starting Mike linebacker to play well against Clemson.

The Tigers want to run the football. Kentucky must stop the run. Jackson will play a big role in the Gator Bowl.

Devin Leary vs. Clemson again

Most players on Kentucky’s roster probably weren’t sure what they would be getting into when Clemson was announced as the opponent in the Gator Bowl. That is not true for quarterback Devin Leary. The super senior will face Dabo Swinney‘s program for the fourth time. Leary has not had the best success against the Tigers in the past.

• 2019: 14/29, 166 yards, 5.7 yards per attempt, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 3 sacks
• 2021: 32/44, 238 yards, 5.4 yards per attempt, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 3 sacks
• 2022: 28/47, 245 yards, 5.2 yards per attempt, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 3 sacks

Leary did lead the Wolfpack to an overtime win in 2021, but Clemson has made each game a grind for the veteran quarterback. Clemson’s pass rush has consistently caused Leary some problems and there have not been a ton of splash plays created.

Kentucky is hoping that will change going against a Clemson secondary that will be severely limited thanks to opt-outs and transfers.

The Wildcats are not built to go on long touchdown drives. Liam Coen‘s offense must hit explosive plays to score. Kentucky will need Leary to take advantage of an inexperienced Clemson secondary and hit some big plays against a team he has struggled with in his career.

Courtland Ford’s first big test at Kentucky

USC transfer Courtland Ford was added to the Kentucky roster shortly after spring practice wrapped up to address a big need at tackle. The expectation was that the former starter in the Pac-12 would come in and become Kentucky’s starting right tackle.

That did not happen with Jeremy Flax performing well and holding off Ford, but Kentucky will be without Flax on Friday. That will give Ford his second start of the season.

Ford has played 157 snaps for the Wildcats this season both at right and left tackle. The redshirt junior is highly likely to be the starter at right tackle in 2024. The contest against Clemson could tell us just where the offensive tackle stands.

Clemson has had some opt outs, but they still have some dudes along the defensive front. T.J. Parker and Xavier Thomas are each good EDGE players who could cause some problems. Kentucky will need Ford to hold up in protection to create some room in the run game.

If the USC transfer plays well in the Gator Bowl then Kentucky could feel very good about their starting tackles heading into 2024.