Kentucky's offense is motivated to get back on track

Last week was a rough one for the Kentucky offense. The Wildcats lost QB1 to injury and scored just 14 points on 12 possessions against South Carolina. To make matters worse, UK gifted the road team an instant touchdown following a lost fumble on a reverse on the game’s first play.

Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and his unit find themselves in a “circle the wagons” moment. The Cats must get their issues fixed immediately before hosting a good Mississippi State squad on Saturday night.

“I felt like we didn’t have the detail and the energy,” Scangarello told reporters about his offense’s performance last week. “I thought we’d taken this jump forward. We lost the [Ole Miss] game, but I liked the way the linemen played, I liked the way we ran the ball, I liked our physicality. There was a lot of plays when 11 guys did the right thing. We had four or five plays that changed that game. You can’t have that happen, but I felt like we were striving forward, and momentum was pushing into this offense, and we were about to break out. Will [Levis] gets hurt, we are sloppy last week. We forced some things with some ideas because we’re trying to cover up for the quarterback, and it looks the way it looks.

Things were messy and disjointed. The Cats struggled from start to finish, and the play-calling was questionable as the offense opened with a botched gadget play and got a little too pass-heavy in the second half after falling behind. However, Scangarello is not panicking and believes the offense is close to a breakthrough performance.

“I’m not going to knee-jerk. I know what we have, and I know the team that was trending the right way against Ole Miss,” Scangarello said. “It just takes focus. A little more effort and detail and better coaching on our part and I think this week we’ll come out and put a hell of a product on the field.”

After a strong speech delivered by Coach Stoops on Monday, Scangarello believes that the players are focused and that Tuesday was a strong practice. The team seems to be motivated after a tough two-game stretch.

“I feel like everybody’s in there a little mad because we haven’t been playing how we should. We haven’t been playing how we know we can ball,” wideout Dane Key said. “I feel like we really have something to prove these next few weeks and especially this week.”

Kentucky’s offense seems to know that their backs are against the wall. We will learn a lot about this group on Saturday.

Kentucky is flexible but the style is not changing

In all of college football, Kentucky is the slowest-playing team outside of Air Force. The Wildcats rank second to last in plays per minute, and some have been questioning if the Cats need to play with some more tempo.

Rich Scangarello is committed to the current offensive approach being used in Lexington.

“It’s been slow, but that’s part of the way the offense is,” Scangarello said. “Taking it deep into the count. We can play fast if we need to. We did at the end of the game, we have in two-minute.”

“I do believe we are in a system and culture where the pace of the game plays to our favor when we can churn out drives. We’re going to huddle and snap it with 10 or less on the clock most of the time.”

Kentucky has formed an offensive identity under Mark Stoops, and that’s not going to change. The Wildcats are a ball control offense that wants to shrink the game by establishing the run and limiting possessions. It’s clear that the coaching staff thinks this is the best way for this team to win.

However, don’t be surprised if things are maybe altered if the offense continues to struggle, but the best way to utilize Chris Rodriguez Jr. and his efficiency could be by playing slowly.

Practice notes

— Will Levis did participate in practice on Tuesday with Kentucky and was called “day-to-day” by Rich Scangarello. All signs seem to point to QB1 returning to the lineup on Saturday.

— There has been no word yet on Tayvion Robinson or Jeremy Flax. Deondre Buford could be in line to get his second start at right tackle as we await word on Kentucky’s leading receiver.

— Dane Key is currently sporting a cast on his right wrist but is planning on removing it before Saturday’s game.

— Kiyaunta Goodwin was spotted getting reps after practice. The blue-chip freshman has already burned his redshirt but still seems to need more work before being thrown into the fire.