KSR Monday Huddle: Kentucky football returns

We’ve made it through the offseason, my friends. Kentucky football returns to Kroger Field on Saturday to play a game with no attendance limitations.

Man, it feels good to be back.

The college football season really gets ramped up this week after the hot seat tracker officially started in week zero when Scott Frost and Nebraska dropped a dud in the upset road loss to Illinois in Bret Bielema’s first game back in the Big Ten. Having college football on television on Saturday was a beautiful thing.

As the calendar turns to Week 1, the Wildcats will make their long-awaited return at noon on Saturday. We’re going to find out a lot about the new-look offense we heard about non-stop during fall camp.

First Down: Liam Coen’s offense makes its debut

The waiting game is finally over. On Saturday, Liam Coen’s first offense at Kentucky will be unveiled. There are a lot of unknowns to get through.

Kentucky did not have an open practice or spring game after Coen arrived on campus. During fall camp, practice was opened just twice. We are still unsure how this attack will look as Coen will be calling plays in a game for the first time since 2017.

However, the last three seasons Coen was out in Los Angeles getting groomed by offensive wunderkind Sean McVay. His attack has changed a lot since then. Scouting reports have been released by some people in the know.

.@JoeTessESPN asked @RamsNFL Head Coach Sean McVay to get "the skinny" on our offensive coordinator @LiamCoen

"Spent the last three seasons as one of my trusted coaches who I heavily relied on behind the scenes." 🗣 Sean McVay pic.twitter.com/OVMbKrkOJ7

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) July 20, 2021

Inside zone is out, wide zone out of 12 personnel will be in. Pistol formation will be used, but the quarterbacks will get under center. Play-action will be heavily involved while the offense appears ready to make Chris Rodriguez Jr. the workhorse.

Outside of that, not much is known. The 70 or so snaps a Saturday will give us our first glimpse of this new-look approach.

Second Down: Kentucky plays Kentucky on Saturday

ULM is in really tough shape. All signs point to Terry Bowden having one of the worst teams in college football during his first season. A winless season while playing in an underrated Sun Belt Conference appears to be on the table.

Kentucky is a near 30-point favorite for a reason.

The Wildcats should have their way with the Warhawks at Kroger Field on Saturday afternoon. However, the process of getting to that win and not the margin is what we should be paying attention to during the 60 minutes of action.

Playing against an inferior opponent, Kentucky will look to play clean football and take care of business in the opener. Ball security, clean special teams, and crispness in alignment on both sides of the football should be the goal for the game.

With a veteran-laden team, expectations are high for the Wildcats. That experience should lead to some clean football to start the season.

Third Down: Watch for surprises

Art Sitkowski came from off the bench to lead Illinois to an upset victory over Nebraska on Saturday. The Rutgers transfer who had tossed four touchdowns and 18 interceptions as a starter in 2018, was all of a sudden dropping dimes at Memorial Stadium.

Art dart 🎯@artursitkowski4 // @IlliniFootball pic.twitter.com/e6MGPQ52um

— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) August 28, 2021

Crazy things can happen when games are actually played, and on Saturday, we could see some new stars emerge. Izayah Cummings, Jalen Geiger, Eli Cox, Davonte Robinson, and Rahsaan Lewis each received public praise from the coaches during camp. Transfer portal additions Will Levis, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Dare Rosenthal all grabbed starting spots and have high expectations.

Will anyone step up and make a big splash in the first game? Or will Kentucky keep everything close to the vest before a huge Week 2 match against Missouri? Only time will tell.

The week ahead at KSR

Do you like podcasts? Man, do we have some great news for you.

Throughout the college football season, KSR will be producing five football podcasts weekly to have you covered for all of the action throughout the week. The KSR Football Podcast, 11 Personnel, The Depth Chart Podcast, Free Money, and Pin It Deep will all be dropping fresh episodes weekly. Buckle up.

KSR’s Drew Franklin and Nick Roush will make the voyage to campus for Mark Stoops’ first Monday game week press conference on Saturday afternoon. Stay tuned for updates as the first depth chart of the season will be dropped. KSR will have practice reports later in the week, plus a wrap-up following the head coach’s radio show on Monday evening.

The highly-anticipated Scouting Report series makes its return on Thursday to go along with other pregame content for your consumption. There is no more waiting necessary.

Football is here. Now let’s see Will Levis play some banana ball.