LSU is coming off of a devastating loss, while Kentucky just beat Florida for just the second time since 1986. All of the momentum is in Kentucky’s favor which will make a difficult matchup that much harder. LSU needs to right the ship this season for a multitude of reasons, let’s see how they can do that.
Kentucky’s Offense Key Stats
*ranks are out of 130 (all stats courtesy of ESPN and NCAA)
Total Offense: 65th
Passing Offense: 87th
Rushing Offense: 36th
3rd Down Conversion %: 26th (47%)
Red Zone Scoring %: Tied 44th (89%)
Time of Possession: 51st
New Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen worked under ‘offensive guru’ Sean McVay for a couple of years before joining Kentucky, making him a hot commodity. The offense hasn’t really jumped off the paper this season, despite running back Chris Rodriguez leading the SEC in rushing yards.
Chris Rodriguez has been one of the quieter dominant running backs in college football. He is averaging 6 yards per carry on about 26 carries per game. LSU did a good job containing Tank Bigsby last week and will look to their defense to repeat that aspect again this weekend.
Quarterback Will Levis is consistently funny on TikTok, but his play on the field has been very hit or miss. His handling of Coen’s pro-style offense hasn’t led the Wildcats to too much offense. So far on the season, Levis has yet to eclipse 1,000 yards passing and has an 8/6 TD/INT ratio. Likely, the Wildcats will mainly be looking for him to not lose the game more than him winning the game on his back.
The most fun part of this offense comes with the transfer receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. Robinson is a blast to watch, maybe not so much when your favorite team is trying to slow him down and will have the biggest impact on this game of a Kentucky receiver. Robinson is responsible for about 45% of the Wildcat’s total receiving yards. You will see Robinson line up everywhere on the offense, so it will be a group effort to contain him.
Kentucky’s Defense Key Stats
*ranks are out of 130 (all stats courtesy of ESPN and NCAA)
Total Defense: 12th
Defensive Efficiency Grade: 24th
Rushing Defense: 25th
3rd Down Conversion % Allowed: 81st (39.2%)
Turnovers Caused: Tied 116th
Sacks: Tied 89th
Tackles for Loss: Tied 45th
Kentucky’s defensive coordinator Brad White has been a name brought up in a bunch of Head Coaching circles since getting the job. Kentucky has had a pretty good defense. They don’t force a ton of turnovers, don’t have a great pass rush, but they hold opponents to under 17 points per game. Kentucky runs a 3-4 defense, so expect them to send a lot of people to try and get Max Johnson, and most likely successfully shut down LSU’s running game yet again this season.
There aren’t any bonafide superstars on this defense, but it’s a group effort to get the job done. They tackle well, they stop you short of the line, they’ll disrupt your pass. Much like LSU’s defense, I would say they’ve had a lot of “bend don’t break” moments this season.
Their safeties are pretty good. Yusuf Corker will be assigned to do a lot in this game. He has six passes defended, which is more than any LSU player has individually so far this season. Tyrell Aijan has a 95-yard pick-six on his resume this season.
The best group of this defense is certainly their linebackers. A balanced group that is talented at providing disruption in the backfield and is capable of shutting the middle of the field down in the passing game. Remember the names DeAndre Square and Jacquez Jones, as they will be called plenty of times during this game.
Bottom Line on Kentucky
Strengths: Linebackers. Running back. All of the momentum.
Weakness: The offense won’t win this game, but probably won’t lose it either.