Monday Huddle: Treatment Time

Kentucky football found itself on the ropes facing a tough matchup in Week 7 against Mississippi State. However, the Cats were able to turn the tables after landing a haymaker.

The Big Blue went old school on Saturday night at Kroger Field rushing for over 240 yards and limiting Mississippi State to 4.8 yards per play on 47 snaps. When the clock hit zeroes, UK walked away with a big ranked win to get to 5-2 and set the table for a big stretch run.

Looking ahead, Kentucky will get two cracks at recording signature wins to close the year with what appears to be a legitimate top-15 team in Lexington. Things could get special to close the year. But before looking too far ahead, let’s reset things as the Cats must get some things accomplished in the bye week.

First Down: Time to ice up

Following the Ole Miss loss, Mark Stoops opened up his weekly Monday press conference by telling the media that he had a banged-up football team. Since then, Kentucky has played two SEC games and suffered some more injuries.

The Cats have multiple players dinged up. During the bye week, there are still multiple injuries to monitor.

• Will Levis (left shoulder)
• Jeremy Flax (hamstring)
• Jacquez Jones (foot/ankle)
• Tayvion Robinson (unknown)
• Jager Burton (knee)

That’s not even counting season-ending injuries to Vito Tisdale, Jalen Geiger, and Ramon Jefferson. Kentucky has some real injury issues and needs to get fresh during the bye.

Most of the focus will be on Will Levis as the Cats cannot afford to not have QB1 back in the lineup but getting both Jacquez Jones and Tayvion Robinson back is very important before making the road trip to Tennessee. A case could be made that the former was the best player on the defense through the first four games, and the latter is the offense’s top receiver.

Quietly, the presence of Jeremy Flax is also needed. Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said that Kentucky had to change its game plan when the right tackle was lost early in the win against Mississippi State due to pass protection worries. Kentucky must keep Levis clean, and Flax plays a big role in that.

More than anything else, Kentucky needs this time off to heal up before playing one of the biggest SEC games of the Stoops era.

Second Down: Appreciating the current run on defense

Brad White is in his fifth season with the Kentucky football program and fourth as defensive coordinator. Since his arrival, the Cats have had a top-40 unit every season. However, the 2022 group is making a run at the best defense of the Mark Stoops era.

The Wildcats are doing things that are similar to what we saw in 2018.

Ole Miss ranks No. 15 in scoring offense (41.2), No. 17 in yards per play (6.85), and No. 3 in rushing yards per game (271.4). Kentucky held the Rebels to 22 points, 5.9 yards per play, and 186 rushing yards.

Florida ranks No. 7 in yards per play (7.20) and No. 18 in rushing yards per game (213.1). Kentucky held the Gators to 4.3 yards per play which is a full two yards shy of the next lowest total (6.5 vs. Missouri) this season. Billy Napier’s offense also rushed for a season-low 136 yards.

Mississippi State ranks No. 9 in passing yards per game (333.0). Kentucky held Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense to a season-low 203 passing yards and 22 rushing yards after rolling up 317 total yards on the ground against Texas A&M and Arkansas.

The Wildcats rank No. 2 in the SEC in scoring defense (16.4), opposing QB rating (108.43), passes defended (36), and 10-plus yard plays allowed (67). The Cats have a top-10 defense through seven games and are the SEC’s best defense outside of Athens.

Looking ahead at the upcoming schedule, some big tests remain with Georgia (Nov. 19) and Tennessee (Oct. 29) but Kentucky has already faced some top-flight offenses this year that are either elite via the run or pass. White’s unit has been up for each challenge.

Kentucky has more than a puncher’s chance in every game remaining on its schedule due to its defense. Mark Stoops and Brad White have built a top-flight unit that plays team defense and creates stops.

Third Down: Embrace the build-up

We have double-digit days to get through before Kentucky plays its next football game. But everyone knows what is at stake. The Wildcats will have a great opportunity when they make the trip down I-75 for a big SEC game at Neyland Stadium.

Big Blue Nation needs to embrace this moment.

Tennessee is up to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and will be talked about nonstop over the next two weeks as a potential College Football Playoff team. Folks are already ready to start previewing the game on Nov. 5 when UT makes the trip to Sanford Stadium to face Georgia. Hendon Hooker seems to have already won the Heisman Trophy, and Josh Heupel will be the greatest coach and play-caller since sliced bread over the next two weeks.

Now here comes ranked Kentucky with no buzz coming off of a bye week with a chance to ruin a dream season for the team that many in this fanbase despise the most. A golden opportunity is awaiting Mark Stoops and his football team.

The Cats have a chance to play spoiler and keep their division title hopes alive if they can go into Knoxville with their top-10 defense and rising offense and pull an upset over the Vols.

This game should be highly gassed up in the Big Blue Nation, and folks should be chomping at the bit for this opportunity. Kentucky has a good football team that is more than capable to beat anyone in college football. Things could get special on Halloween weekend.

An opportunity like this is what most Kentucky fans hoped could happen for so long. Enjoy this journey.

The week ahead at KSR

The idle week is officially here in the Bluegrass State, and Kentucky gets a win this week by getting healthy. In the meantime, KSR will be here every step of the way with some more non-stop football content.

There will be no press conference from Mark Stoops on Monday, but the head football coach will speak with reporters on Tuesday. On Hump Day, we will also get to hear from both coordinators and select players. After that point, Tennessee prep will officially begin.

KSR’s podcast schedule will remain the same this week with the “KSR Football Podcast” getting the show started on Monday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel.

Kentucky football still has a lot to play for. The final six weeks of the college football season could be very fun.