Rushing the passerĪt the same time that Kentucky’s O-line nearly took a season off, the Wildcats’ defensive front didn’t have a great season getting to the quarterback. Smoke transferred and C-Rod moved on to the NFL, but Vandy transfer Ray Davis brings the lunch-pail mentality that should help the Wildcats post at least 170 rushing yards per game in 2023. JuTahn McClain was the receiving threat, Kavosiey Smoke was the burner and La’Vell Wright was the promising youngster … but none of them quite delivered. It probably prevented him from ever getting terribly comfortable on the field as well. missed the season’s first 4 games due to an off-field suspension that probably prevented him from becoming UK’s all-time leading rusher. But it was more than poor blocking that dropped UK from 200 rushing yards per game in 2021 to 116 in 2022. Yes, as noted above, there were some problems up front. A year of development, and additions like super senior tackle Marques Cox and USC transfer Courtland Ford, can’t help but improve the Wildcats’ offensive front. Kentucky’s offense was pretty putrid, and the Big Blue Wall turned into a Big Blue Sieve. Pretty clearly, 1 of these seasons is not like the others. If that’s not clear enough, how about the number of sacks by season: 28, 31, 28, 17, 17, 25, 47. How much so? Consider Kentucky’s per-carry rushing yards by season since 2016: 5.4, 4.3, 4.8, 6.3, 5.0, 5.2 and 3.3. OK, what was a massive team strength since 2016 became a massive weakness. On what would figure to be an upward-trending season, here are 5 areas where UK will be better, and 5 where the Wildcats will be worse. The Wildcats have reached a bowl game every season since 2015. But with a pair of 10-win campaigns in the previous 4 seasons, Mark Stoops has upped expectations in Kentucky. Not that long ago, a 7-6 season was cause for celebration in Lexington.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |