Could it be big play day at Kroger Field on Saturday?

Beware of the big play.

That’s been the message this week for Kentucky’s defensive backs as they prepare for Ole Miss and its treasure trove of big-play wide receivers on Saturday at Kroger Field.

The Rebels have the UK secondary’s undivided attention.

“You show those guys catching big play after big play after big play,” defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale said, noting that those equaled fast points in Ole Miss’s most recent game against Arkansas.

“We know we’re going to face one of the better groups we have all year and we have to step up.”

Ole Miss boasts the Southeastern Conference’s best passing offense, throwing for 338.1 yards per game and connecting on 64.1 percent of its passes.

The Rebels have four different receivers among the top 20 in the league, including sophomore star A.J. Brown (41 catches for 765 yards and six touchdowns), who leads the SEC in several receiving categories.

DaMarkus Lodge (28 catches for 511 yards and six TDs) and freshman D.K. Metcalf (30 catches, 479 yards and four scores) are also among the top 10.

“They’re explosive,” Coach Mark Stoops said of the wide receivers group, which is playing well even with a new quarterback in Jordan Ta’amu, who replaced starter Shea Patterson after a knee injury.

“They’re big and strong. They make competitive plays across the board. Every play, virtually every play Ole Miss has is a run or pass (two-way option), so if they like the numbers, they toss it up and let their players make plays. So it puts a lot of stress on you.”

It’s going to be a big test for Kentucky, which is the league’s worst against the pass, allowing 266.6 yards per game and letting opponents connect on 62.7 percent of their throws.

“You just want to step up to the challenge like, ‘Man, I want a chance. Just give me a chance at the ball, like give me a one-on-one,’” UK junior cornerback Derrick Baity said.

Kentucky’s secondary would like to prove some doubters wrong this weekend.

“You’ve got to go against everyone’s word about our secondary,” Baity added. “You just want your chance, so you get real excited.”

The Rebels (3-5, 1-4) are top 10 nationally in long passing plays, including top three in the country with 23 passes going for 30-plus yards. Kentucky’s defense has given up 11 pass plays of 40 or more yards. Only six other teams in the country have allowed more.

“We know they’re going to pass the ball; we know that’s what they’re going to do,” said cornerback Lonnie Johnson, who moved into the starting rotation for this game. “We know they’ve got some good receivers, some tough receivers. We’ve just gotta be tougher DBs.”

Ta’amu, a junior-college transfer, also makes plays with his feet and has the ability to run an up-tempo offense like Missouri did against the Cats, which created some problems.

It’s going to be a challenge on multiple fronts, defensive coordinator Matt House said. He called on the Cats (6-2, 3-2) to do the simple things well.

“Limiting the big plays will be a big key to our success,” House said. “And really just making them earn it, making them drive the field. Really you watch Arkansas and the first three touchdowns were huge explosion plays. … .When they settled in and made them earn it, the tide kind of turned.”

Big plays: Take 2

Ole Miss is quite the two-sided coin for big plays.

While the Rebels are among the league’s best in explosive passes, they are among the league’s worst at defending big plays.

Mississippi has given up 24 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, 11 of 30-plus yards and eight for 40 or more yards, all worst in the SEC.

In all, the Rebels have allowed 130 plays that went for 10 yards or more and 46 different plays for 20 or more yards, among the most in the league.

That all means that UK’s ground game will have to build off the success it had last week versus Tennessee and hope it sets up shots down the field, too.

“We were one out of every five explosive plays in this game,” offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said of UK’s output versus the Vols. “That’s how you have to play offense for you to be successful.”

Big plays: Take 3

The big plays might not be relegated to offenses. The Rebels and the Cats are No. 1 and 2 in the league in long kickoff return plays with Ole Miss returning nine for 30-plus yards and UK returning six for that distance.

The Rebs are 15th nationally in kickoff return average (25.4 yards per return) behind sophomore Jaylon Jones, who had a 97-yard return for a score in the opener this season versus South Alabama.

Ole Miss’s special teams coordinator, Bradley Dale Peveto, is a familiar face to Cats fans. He was on Stoops’ first Kentucky staff before he left to take a position at LSU.

When he coached the Tigers’ special teams against UK in 2014, LSU opened the game with a 58-yard kickoff return and returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown. It also recovered its own kickoff.

‘Take care of the football’

Early this season, UK did a good job of holding on to the football and forcing turnovers, but those stats haven’t been as positive for the Cats the last few games.

Kentucky had more fumbles (four) against Tennessee than it had in the previous seven games combined. Coaches are hopeful that it was a fluke in UK’s first true cold-weather game of the year.

“Our offensive coaches have done a great job all year of teaching that and emphasizing that, and we got to get back to it,” Stoops said of ball security. “We will address it, we’ll talk about it, we’ll stress it and then we have to move on and have the confidence that we’ll take care of the football.”

As for the defense, the Cats haven’t had an interception in three consecutive games or collected a fumble in two weeks. UK is still plus-two in turnover margin. Ole Miss is minus-6, but most of those were interceptions by Patterson.

Rebels opponents have scored 65 points off their miscues this season, including a key fumble recovery returned for a touchdown that helped change the game at Arkansas last weekend.

News and notes

Kentucky quarterback Stephen Johnson, who sat out the first two days of practice this week coming back from a left shoulder injury against Tennessee, was able to practice the rest of the week, Stoops said Thursday.

▪  The game on Saturday will be UK’s “Salute to Veterans” game and will include game-ball delivery via the Army Golden Knights parachute team. Jimmy Rose, a Marine from Pineville who finished third on “America’s Got Talent” in 2013, will perform the national anthem. Vets are eligible to receive two free tickets to the game with valid identification.

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Could it be big play day at Kroger Field on Saturday?."