Kentucky Football 2023 Stats: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The new calendar in college football is unforgiving. As soon as the season ends, the transfer portal is humming. Now, a month after the loss to Clemson in Jacksonville, there’s finally some time to exhale and reflect on the 2023 Kentucky football season.

For the second straight season, Mark Stoops led the Wildcats to a 7-6 record, culminating with a postseason loss. Fans are left wanting more, and rightfully so. Kentucky improved in various aspects from the year prior, yet still left too much meat on the bone. Let’s dissect where specifically Kentucky excelled and where they came up short by taking a closer look at the numbers.

The Good

Offense

— The advanced offensive stats are some of the best we’ve ever seen at Kentucky. The Wildcats finished No. 12 in points per play (.52) and ranked No. 34 in overall efficiency. It’s the offense’s second-highest SP+ finish of the Stoops era, only trailing Liam Coen’s first campaign. The highest-ranked Kentucky offenses since 2005, according to SP+ (ranking nationally, followed by overall rating):

• 2007: No. 15 (38.8)
• 2021: No. 21 (35.1)
• 2010: No. 27 (34.6)
• 2006: No. 21 (33.3)
• 2023: No. 34 (31.5)

— The offense’s efficiency numbers are great because Kentucky was explosive. The Wildcats had 11 plays of 50+ yards, the most in the SEC.

— The Kentucky offensive line allowed only 22 sacks, tied for the second-fewest in the SEC, a year after they gave up more sacks than any other Power Five program.

— Ray Davis had more receiving touchdowns (7) than any other running back in college football. His 20 touchdowns from scrimmage were the most in the SEC and set a Kentucky single-season record. The transfer from Vanderbilt surpassed the 1,000-yard threshold, the fifth different Wildcat to do so in the last eight seasons.

— Devin Leary threw 25 touchdown passes, the second-most in the SEC.

— Rich Scangarello’s offense only scored touchdowns on 53% of their red zone possessions, ranking 106th nationally and last in the SEC. This year Kentucky improved to fourth in the SEC and 23rd nationally, punching in touchdowns on 69% of their red zone possessions.

— Kentucky averaged nine more points per game (29.1) than in 2022. Only two Mark Stoops teams have scored more than 30 points per game, the 2021 and 2016 Wildcats.

Defense

— The stout Kentucky rush defense ranked second in the SEC in both yards per attempt (3.27) and yards per game (113.8). Those numbers were also good enough to finish in the top 20 nationally.

— Many thought Max Hairston would be a liability at cornerback. After all, they had only seen him get beat on a fourth and long by Vanderbilt. Instead of letting that play define him, he came back with a vengeance and led the SEC with five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.

— Kentucky had 35 sacks (No. 5 in the SEC), 14 more than a year ago. It’s the most sacks in a season by the Kentucky defense since Josh Allen was suiting up for the Wildcats. Those were the only plays the Cats made behind the line of scrimmage. Kentucky had the fewest tackles for loss (54) in the SEC in 2022 and jumped up to fourth (84) in 2023.

Special Teams

— The Wildcats improved from No. 83 to No. 39 in special teams efficiency, in large part thanks to Barion Brown. The sensational sophomore broke school records by returning three kicks for scores.

— From snap to hold to kick, Kentucky could hardly attempt a field goal in 2022. Alex Raynor made 10-of-11 field goal attempts and went 48-of-49 on PATs. Oddly enough, he did not qualify to be included as an SEC leader in FG attempts because he did not average one field goal attempt per game. The Cats just didn’t kick many field goals.

The Bad

Offense

— The running game was inefficient, leading to a myriad of problems. Kentucky ranked No. 92 in rushing success rate.

— Kentucky tied with Auburn for committing the most turnovers (20) in the SEC.

— Barion Brown was targeted 60 times, but only caught 44 passes.

Defense

— The Kentucky Pass Defense was bad in just about every metric except takeaways. The Wildcats ranked No. 123 in success rate and No. 93 in passing yards per game allowed (240.5). A unit that prides itself on limiting explosive pass plays did just that for the long bombs, but still gave up 121 passes of 10+ yards, ranking 12th in the SEC.

Special Teams

— For the first half of the season, seemingly every kickoff went into the end zone. During the second half of the season, the Wildcats gave up significant chunks of hidden yardage. Kentucky had the worst kick coverage unit in the SEC. The Cats allowed 24.4 yards per return, ranking No. 124 in the FBS.

The Ugly

— Devin Leary completed 56.3% of his passes, ranking last among all SEC quarterbacks. He was even worse against SEC foes, completing 54.2% of his passes for 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

— The offense ran 54 plays a game, ranking No. 131 out of 133 teams. Not only was the offensive operation slow, Kentucky struggled to sustain long drives. The Cats either created explosive plays or stalled on third down, converting less than 38% of the time (75th, 8th in SEC).

— Kentucky’s third down defense was one of the worst in all of college football. The Wildcats could not get off the field, allowing opponents to convert 43.2% of the time. That ranked No. 107 in the FBS.

— The punt game, WOOF. The worst punting unit in the SEC averaged 39.02 yards per punt. Only one Power Five program punted the ball worse, Northwestern.

What All of These Numbers Mean for Kentucky

There’s only one phrase you can use to describe this Kentucky football team: boom or bust.

On special teams the Wildcats had the worst kickoff and punting unit in the SEC, but the best return man and a deadeye field goal kicker. The slow-moving offense was led by the least accurate quarterback in the conference, who also threw the second-most touchdowns. They also had an inefficient running game with the most explosive running back in the conference. The defense stopped the run as well as anybody in the country but got gashed in the passing game, particularly on third downs.

This group was a walking contradiction. Even so, they still had a chance to win 9+ games, but they did not take care of business at home or execute in critical situations. In four one-score games, Kentucky only prevailed against Louisville. Similarly, the Cats went 1-3 in home games against SEC opponents, only winning the opener against Florida.

Kentucky was too inconsistent to close out wins in toss-up games.

There are signs indicating that Kentucky is close to putting it all together. The deficiencies are clear. Mark Stoops has the roster. It’s his job to get his players to execute and finish in 2024.