Monday Huddle: Week 2 growth from Kentucky

Kentucky is 1-0 after Saturday’s 44-14 home win over Ball State. Now the Wildcats will shift their attention to Eastern Kentucky. The FCS program is fresh off a rough performance where Cincinnati rolled up 9.4 yards per play in a 66-13 victory. This should be a get-right week for the Wildcats.

Mark Stoops‘ team will be a heavy, heavy favorite on Saturday afternoon when Walt Wells brings his ballclub over from Richmond. In coaching, the popular cliche that your team improves the most from week one to week two will be put to the test at Kroger Field.

Where will see growth from this week?

KSR’s Monday Huddle is back to set the table on the Labor Day holiday as Kentucky is dealing with another offensive line injury, has some rust to knock off in the passing game, and must tighten up some coverage. However, there was also a lot of good to come out of last week’s win.

First Down: Offensive line depth is being tested

Kentucky’s offensive line had a good day against Ball State. The Wildcats kept Devin Leary clean giving up only one sack and two QB hurries. The ground game rolled up 121-non sack rushing yards on 6.4 yards per rush. However, there was one huge injury.

Super senior Kenneth Horsey was helped off the field in the second quarter and was later carted off the field. The injury appeared to be serious. Ohio State transfer Ben Christman has already been ruled out for the season. The same goes for redshirt freshman Nikolas Hall. Injuries are piling up in Zach Yenser‘s position room.

West Virginia transfer Dylan Ray stepped in for Horsey and a strong performance in his Kentucky debut. The redshirt sophomore will likely receive his first career start on Saturday against EKU. However, some shuffling may need to be done as depth is taking a big hit.

Alabama transfer Tanner Bowles and redshirt sophomore Paul Rodriguez now step into big backup roles. Kentucky might consider giving USC transfer Courtland Ford a look at cross-training at guard if Jeremy Flax is ready to take over the right tackle position full-time.

Week 1 was a step in the right direction for this often maligned group, but they are being hit with some early adversity. If Horsey is out of the year, Kentucky will be down to 11 scholarship players on the offensive line. That is a small number.

The upcoming week is about development, finding out Horsey’s long-term status, and growing the starting five with Ray penciled in as a new starter at left guard.

Second Down: Growth from Kentucky’s pass rush

Kentucky did many good things on defense in 2022, but getting quarterbacks on the ground was not one of them. Brad White‘s defense only recorded only 20 sacks in 13 games. The Wildcats only recorded three-plus sacks in three games this season.

In Saturday’s win against Ball State, UK was able to create consistent pressure leading to three sacks and 20 pressures in 40 dropbacks. That is getting the job done. Now we need to see the Wildcats produce weekly.

Most notably in the Week 1 win, we saw Kentucky create some instant interior pressure. Deone Walker was his normal self, but the super sophomore received some help. Kahlil Saunders won on a swim move to record a sack, Octavious Oxendine led the team in pressures (four) and was consistently getting into the backfield, and North Carolina transfer Keeshawn Silver flashed in 26 snaps.

That work done by the front allowed both Trevin Wallace and J.J. Weaver to record easy sacks. There is a lot of pressure on the latter to become Kentucky’s No. 1 edge rusher. What can make an edge rusher’s job easier? Guys that are able to win inside can puncture the pocket and make things difficult on the quarterback. Kentucky did that against a good MAC line on Saturday afternoon.

This is only a one-game sample size, but pass rush production can help out a young unit that needs time to grow.

Kentucky’s pass coverage had some rough moments in the opener. Ball State finished the game with 7.4 yards per attempt on 30 passes with a 45.4 percent success rate. The three-quarterback platoon posted some unexpected good passing numbers. That is somewhat concerning.

There were some voids in zone coverage, and it’s clear that this secondary needs some time to grow and season. Having a pass rush that can force the ball out quickly could make a big impact early in the year. Add in the fact that both Florida and Vanderbilt have been somewhat pass-heavy in early action and that makes the pass rush that much more important.

Kentucky did some good on Saturday, but that good needs to continue.

Third Down: Establishing the run

Perhaps the biggest surprise to come out of Saturday’s game was the usage at tailback. Ray Davis played 42 of 54 offensive snaps. JuTahn McClain and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye came off the bench to play a combined 19 snaps. Kentucky certainly seems to have a new RB1.

The Vanderbilt transfer rushed for 112 yards on 14 attempts with two touchdowns. The redshirt senior has now rushed for 100-plus yards in four of his last five games dating back to last season. Davis flashed good patience in Kentucky’s zone scheme with some surprising burst to rip off a couple of explosive runs.

Postgame @SECNetwork interview with @Ray_Davis07 pic.twitter.com/3jlp6lOuLR

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 2, 2023

In Kentucky’s pro-style offense, the passing game will need to carry a big load in 2023, but the emphasis on running the football is not going away under head coach Mark Stoops. The Wildcats want to play a physical brand of football and that means pounding the rock when you have to. That will stay the same this fall, but the overall operation could be different.

Kentucky utilized a zone-heavy approach, and going away from the downhill gap scheme runs we saw log high usage rates last season. That fits offensive coordinator Liam Coen‘s background from his time working under Sean McVay. The mid and wide zone approach can be good for creating chunk plays on the ground and opening up options in the passing game, but requires a more horizontal blocking style and strong feel and vision at tailback. Davis flashed those attributes in Week 1.

On Saturday, we saw numerous hard play action fakes with Devin Leary hitting Dane Key for two explosive plays that set up scoring drives. Those can only happen if Kentucky commits to running the football. We will see some more of the tailbacks as the season progresses, but Davis has emerged as Kentucky’s next potential 1,000-yard rusher in the SEC.

Kentucky’s passing game will determine the ceiling in 2023, and the Wildcats need Leary to play better than what we saw for most of Saturday. However, there is a true marriage of run and pass in Lexington.

Davis was a key addition from the transfer portal and is already making a big impact.

The week ahead at KSR

Week 2 is here, and a later kickoff time (3:00 p.m. ET) means more tailgate time for the Big Blue Nation on Saturday. Throughout the week, KSR will provide in-depth pregame content from now until kickoff arrives on Saturday afternoon. EKU will be making the short drive to Kroger Field for the third time in eight seasons and we’ll be here to get your ready for gameday.

KSR will have full coverage of Mark Stoops’ press conference on Monday before breaking down the first depth chart of the season. Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel so you can see the first Rapid Reaction of the season this afternoon. From there, practice reports and daily podcasts will take over as Saturday quickly approaches.

Over at KSR+, we will have a film review on Tuesday, a lengthy scouting report on the Colonels on Thursday, and some against-the-spread picks on Friday.

Let’s play some football.