Kentucky players to watch against Florida

Kentucky sits at 3-3 at the halfway point of the season with three SEC road games remaining. The most winnable one arrives in Week 8.

The Wildcats have made another trip to The Swamp where they will attempt to extend their winning streak in this series to four games. In what feels like a 50/50 game, one or two plays could make the difference.

What Kentucky players could make some game-swinging plays? KSR is looking at the top candidates.

Winning against Florida’s receivers

Kentucky will be without star cornerback Maxwell Hairston for the third consecutive SEC game on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. That has turned into junior cornerback JQ Hardaway becoming the new CB1 for Brad White’s defense.

The former Cincinnati transfer is playing good football with 23 tackles and three havoc plays (interception, pass breakup, forced fumble) in 264 defensive snaps. Hardaway’s pass breakup last week helped create a key fourth quarter stop. Hardaway’s interception against Southern Miss and forced fumble against Ole Miss prevented points from being scored in the red zone.

One of Hardaway’s toughest challenges on the season will be this week facing a Florida offense where the top three receivers have produced 56 receptions for 955 yards and five touchdowns. In a game where the Gators will likely have a difficult time running the ball against Kentucky’s front, expect the cornerbacks to get challenged.

Kentucky will need Hardaway and the other cornerbacks to make some plays in coverage.

A new look for the Kentucky running game

Kentucky signed Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum out of the transfer portal to be the offense’s new RB1. The former blue-chip recruit brought 1,156 career rushing yards to Lexington and was finally going to get his shot as a redshirt senior to be a true RB1 after sitting behind NFL players at Arizona State and Ohio State.

Unfortunately, the injury bug arrived in fall camp.

A broken hand injury has kept Trayanum out of the lineup for six games. The transfer will make his season debut in Gainesville. How will that change Kentucky’s offense?

We know that redshirt freshman tailback Jamarion Wilcox is in the dog house and that Bush Hamdan has had to use Gavin Wimsatt to help the run game. Trayanum’s availability should at least give him RB2 touches behind Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and give the Wildcats some much-needed size in the red zone.

Facing a Florida run defense that ranks No. 92 in success rate allowed, could Trayanum give Kentucky a boost to own this matchup when Kentucky is on offense? The transfer has a chance to make a real impact in his season debut.

Creating takeaways

Kentucky’s defense ranks No. 2 nationally in havoc rate and is facing a Florida offense that ranks No. 121 overall in offensive havoc rate. Billy Napier is 0-8 in his career when the Gators lose the turnover battle. Against a strong Kentucky defense, Florida is starting a true freshman quarterback with five interceptions and fumbles in less than 200 offensive snaps.

It certainly feels like a game where Kentucky could create an advantage in the takeaway department. When you consider that Florida will likely have a tough time running the football consistently, Kentucky’s secondary could get a lot of action. That’s where turnovers could arrive.

At post safety, redshirt junior Jordan Lovett enters the game with five career interceptions but is still looking for his first takeaway in 2024. Lovett dropped a big pick opportunity against Georgia but could find himself near the football if DJ Lagway gets stuck on targets or has some bad reads against zone coverage.

Do not be surprised if Lovett makes a huge play when Florida starts getting dropback-heavy.

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