Situational wins by Kentucky turn opening game into runaway victory

The expectations were sky-high for Kentucky’s defense. Deone Walker was the star, but D’Eryk Jackson and Jamon Dumas-Johnson gave the Wildcats two big-time players at off-ball linebacker. Kentucky will need those veterans to produce consistently to reach this unit’s ceiling.

Both seniors flashed with some key playmaking in the 31-0 blowout win on Saturday night at Kroger Field.

KSR is diving into the film to pull out the most important three plays from Saturday’s blowout victory. The defense delivered some key takeaways in the first half, and Brock Vandagriff showed that a popular concept for the offense is not going away with Bush Hamdan holding the call sheet.

Jamon Dumas-Johnson gets Kentucky off the field early

After an impressive first drive from the Kentucky offense ended with a scoring opportunity turnover, the defense took the field for the first time and uncharacteristically gave up a 25-yard completion on the first snap. But the Wildcats did not fall in a hole.

Georgia transfer Jamon Dumas-Johnson did not wait long to make his first big play for the Big Blue. On the defense’s second snap of the game, the Georgia transfer took advantage of a pressure from Deone Walker that turned into a pass breakup. The former All-American hauled in an interception to give Kentucky some momentum after the offense’s first possession turnover.

Dumas-Johnson was a talented addition for Kentucky in the transfer portal, and the veteran delivered with two tackles and one big takeaway in his debut. The sudden change set the stage for a 10-play, 59-yard touchdown drive for the offense.

D’Eryk Jackson creates a red zone takeaway

Facing a third-and-18 from their own 9, Southern Miss quarterback Tate Rodemaker found tight end Kyirin Heath for a 34-yard gain that included a missed open field tackle by Kentucky safety Zion Childress. Eight players later, USM was in the red zone.

Kentucky’s other starting linebacker delivered a huge play with the Wildcats holding a 7-0 lead at the beginning of the second quarter.

On third-and-five from the Kentucky 8, Rodemaker looked to his left trying to find wideout Ti Mims on a slant. The quarterback forgot about the inside linebacker. Jackson plays with good zone eyes, and that leads him directly to the football. A tipped pass leads to a JQ Hardaway interception and prevents Southern Miss from scoring in a one-possession game.

Kentucky would not extend the lead on the next possession, but the only scoring threat of the night was stymied by Jackson.

A popular offensive concept isn’t going away

The Kentucky passing game struggled with consistency last season, but there was one popular concept that was cash for most of the season. The Wildcats had a ton of success with hard play-action fakes from under that ended with Dane Key becoming wide open on a dig route.

We did not see much under center from Bush Hamdan‘s offense, but the hard play-action and dig combo is not going away. With 6:06 remaining in the second quarter, Kentucky went to that concept out of the pistol for a chunk play drive starter.

Kentucky goes with a maximum protection scheme to give Brock Vandagriff time to make a throw after the play fake, and the quarterback delivers to a streaking Key over the middle. The play goes for 35 yards, and the drive ends in the paint with a touchdown six plays later.

The deep play-action shots are not going away in the new offensive scheme.