Three players to watch as Kentucky faces Miami (Ohio)

The football season is here. As long as mother nature cooperates, we will get to see the strides Kentucky quarterback Will Levis has made on Saturday night when the Wildcats get started in Week 1 against Miami (Ohio).

For the Cats to reach their goals in 2022, Levis needs to become one of the top QBs in college football, but that is already known. Football is a team game with 22 players on the field at a time who are grinding to execute assignments.

For Kentucky in the opener, three individual players stand out as ones we need to be paying close attention to.

Kavsoiey Smoke’s opportunity

In a mild fall camp surprise, redshirt senior tailback Kavosiey Smoke won a heated position battle and will open the season as the starter for Kentucky in Week 1 with Chris Rodriguez Jr. out of the lineup. The former three-star recruit out of Wetumpka (Ala.) High has played a lot of football for the Wildcats with 1,306 career rushing yards, but this will only be the second start of his career.

Over the last two seasons, explosive runs have disappeared for Smoke. With Kentucky seemingly making the full-time move to a wide zone scheme, there should be more opportunities to pick up chunk yardage in this concept. However, the Wildcats will open themselves up to some negative gains.

Smoke could be a boom or bust player in this scheme, but the coaching staff seems very confident in the veteran. Saturday will be a great opportunity for the tailback as a couple of chunk runs could go a long way to making him a long-term factor for the offense.

If there is inefficiency, we could see a heavy rotation early. Saturday night is a big one for Kavosiey Smoke.

David Wohlabaugh Jr. makes his debut at left tackle

Kavosiey Smoke was not the only surprise starter on offense. After Deondre Buford entered fall camp as the favorite to start at left tackle. However, redshirt freshman David Wohlabaugh Jr. emerged as LT1 by the time game prep rolled around at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

On3 listed the class of 2021 prospect as a top-300 recruit coming out of Cuyahoga Falls (Ohio) Walsh Jesuit as the offensive lineman has a big-time pedigree. Wohlabaugh’s dad played a long-time in the NFL, and his older brother was a multi-year starter at Duke.

There appears to be real pass protection potential that Wohlabaugh will bring to the Big Blue Wall as his length and movement ability are two very good traits to start with. That athleticism should also help the tackle complete reach blocks in the wide zone concepts utilized by play-caller Rich Scangarello.

Wohlabaugh is a toolsy young player, but play strength is a concern as he’s only in year two at Kentucky. That shouldn’t be a factor this week against a small Miami (Ohio) front.

Miami (Ohio) starting DL

End: Caiden Woullard (6-5, 249, So.)
Nose: Austin Ertl (6-2, 290, RJr.)
Tackle: Kobe Hilton (6-3, 265, RJr.)
EDGE: Ty Wise (6-2, 235, RSo., Indiana transfer)

The two interior guys have played a lot but this defense is very fresh and small on the edge.

— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) September 2, 2022

Kentucky feels good about the rest of the offensive line heading into the season, but we need to see what Wohlabaugh can bring in the opener. The matchup with Miami (Ohio) seems to favor the redshirt freshman and we need to see him have a positive game by holding in pass protection and completing some seals and reach blocks in the run game.

Keidron Smith moves back to cornerback

Last season at Ole Miss, defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin asked veteran Keidron Smith to slide inside and play a versatile safety role in the dime base 3-2-6 look that the Rebels used last season. Following the year, Smith entered the portal because he wanted to play cornerback again.

Kentucky is giving the super senior that opportunity, and the transfer is opening the season as a starter for the Wildcats opposite Carrington Valentine with both Alex Afari and Andru Phillips alternating at nickel.

The zone-heavy scheme used by defensive coordinator Brad White figures to be a great fit for the 6-foot-2 super senior, but we need to see it play out on the field. Smith and the rest of the Kentucky secondary will be challenged by a good Miami (Ohio) passing game.

While watching Smith, we will want to see assignment sound football with no coverage busts. Providing the defense with some ball production would also be helpful. The South Florida native produced 7 passes defended (6 pass breakups, 1 interception) during his last year at corner. That would’ve led Kentucky last year.

Kentucky needs the transfer to be a reliable, dependable starting cornerback who can give the defense a splash of playmaking. Keidron Smith should give the unit some plus value as a tackler, and his SEC experience should help this secondary immediately.