KSR Monday Huddle: Survival Mode

All of a sudden, Kentucky is backed into a corner. The Wildcats have dropped consecutive SEC games on the road and just put together their worst performance of the season in the 14-point loss to Mississippi State.

The Wildcats had four turnovers in nine possessions, were sliced up by Mississippi State’s precision passing, and were blitzed in the third quarter on their way to a consecutive tough loss.

Kentucky now sits at 6-2 overall with a 4-2 mark in SEC play. The Wildcats are No. 18 in the AP Top 25 and are in danger of letting a historic season slip through their fingers. Injuries are piling up and momentum seems to be turning.

However, that can all be turned around with a victory over Tennessee on Saturday night. KSR’s Monday Huddle is once again here to set the stage.

First down: Kentucky needs more explosives

Kentucky had a ton of issues slowing down Mississippi State. Will Rogers is an efficient quarterback and Mike Leach’s Air Raid attack is comfortable with taking the profits in the short-to-intermediate passing game and not hunting for big plays. The matchup was always going to be difficult for Kentucky’s defense.

However, the performance of the Kentucky offense was the biggest disappointment walking away from Saturday night. After what seemed to be a building block moment against Georgia for Will Levis, the quarterback and the offense took a major step backward in Starkville.

Mississippi State’s aggressive, gap cancellation defense is going to win the battle of efficiency. However, the Bulldogs are susceptible to big plays. The defense was also out two starters in the secondary. Kentucky’s passing game was unable to take advantage.

The Wildcats had poor ball security but were unable to find chunk plays in the passing game. The offense has not hit a vertical deep shot down the field since September and needs the rushing attack to be very effective.

Luckily, Georgia and Mississippi State were clearly the top two rushing defenses on the schedule. Kentucky should be able to establish the run of every other opponent. However, Chris Rodriguez Jr. appears to be banged up and that is overly concerning.

In the matchup against Tennessee, the Vols are clearly capable of scoring touchdowns. Josh Heupel’s first offense in Knoxville is averaging 37.4 points per game. Kentucky is going to need to score points to get a win on Saturday.

Finding some explosive play pop this week would help solve a lot of issues.

Second down: Big play prevention will matter against Tennessee

It feels like we bring it up all the time whether at the KSR Monday Huddle or on 11 Personnel, Kentucky hangs their hat on stopping the run and big-play prevention.

The Wildcats utilize a soft zone coverage that will allow patient quarterbacks and play-callers to dink and dunk their way down the field for success. However, hunting big plays will be difficult.

Mississippi State was just fine getting involved in that kind of battle. The same likely won’t be true for Tennessee.

The Wildcats have allowed just seven plays of 30-plus yards this season. That ranks No. 3 nationally in all of college football. The big-play prevention will come in handy facing a Tennessee offense that can big-play strike.

The Vols have a run-first approach in 2021 but have had three plays go for over 70 yards this season. Heupel’s offense uses tempo constantly and gets in huge spread formations to stretch out defenses horizontally so the offense can attack vertically. The alignment allows the Vols to create creases in the running game and take sideline vertical shots if defenses don’t have strong eye discipline.

Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker has taken over the quarterback and is giving the Vols excellent play (52.7% passing success rate, 9.5 yards per attempt, 21 total touchdowns, 23.1% explosive rush rate). The redshirt senior makes this offense dangerous on the ground and through the air.

For Kentucky to get stops, the Wildcats must keep the explosive plays in check. Luckily, this is what Brad White’s unit does best.

Third down: Kentucky is on injury watch

There is a lot of disappointment going around the Big Blue Nation heading into Week 10 of the college football season. The Wildcats just dropped a game many were expecting them to win.

However, the loss wasn’t the most important aspect to monitor coming out of the performance at Davis Wade Stadium. Kentucky seems to be a very banged up football team at the moment.

Redshirt senior EDGE Jordan Wright was carted off the field at Mississippi State. Sophomore defensive back Vito Tisdale was hurt and needed assistance heading back to the bench. Sophomore tailback JuTahn McClain did not see snaps on offense after getting dinged up against Georgia. Left tackle Dare Rosenthal missed some snaps after going down in the middle of the game.

Kentucky has already lost redshirt freshman defensive tackle Octavious Oxendine, redshirt junior tight end Keaton Upshaw, and sophomore linebacker D’Eryk Jackson for the season. Each was a starter during spring practice. Starting nose tackle Marquan McCall has been out since the Florida game.

Meanwhile, Chris Rodriguez Jr. is being somewhat limited by what appears to be a wrist injury that has been ongoing throughout the season. Mark Stoops confirmed the redshirt junior tailback dealt with something in the postgame but would not confirm an injury. Freshman Dekel Crowdus is still returning from a knee injury suffered in fall camp. Starting receiver Josh Ali just returned to the lineup after missing two games due to a knee injury. Offensive tackle Darian Kinnard is playing through a knee injury suffered against LSU.

Kentucky is dealing with a ton of injury issues and depth is starting to be severely tested. Getting players available this week will be huge for this football team.

The Wildcats need a healthy Rodriguez and depth on the defensive side of the football to shine through. The roster is becoming thin over at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

The week ahead at KSR

Another jam-packed football week full of content at KSR is set to be unleashed as Kentucky looks to start a winning streak against Tennessee.

On Monday afternoon, we’ll have coverage of Mark Stoops’ weekly press conference to go along with his radio show in the evening. Practice reports will come throughout the week. Podcasts galore will be available for your consumption.

Kentucky is backed into a corner and needs a bounce-back win. Delivering one against the Big Orange would be sweet for all involved as football weather rolls into Kroger Field on Saturday night.