Kentucky wants to run. Vandy knows it. Here’s why nobody’s keeping secrets.

There’s been much discussion this week about tweaking the Kentucky offense after several quarters of sputtering and stalling.

The Cats coaches have thrown out names of little-used wide receivers who might help get the passing game going. They’ve discussed self-scouting during the bye week and playbook alterations.

One thing is clear to tight end C.J. Conrad after watching — with disgust — that overtime loss at Texas A&M two weeks ago.

“We were getting away from who we were,” the senior said. “We’re going to go back to what we’re good at, which is running the football and making some plays out of that.”

No. 14 Kentucky (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) went into that game against the Aggies knowing that Texas A&M was great at stopping the run and limiting opponents’ number of plays.

The Aggies did both to the Cats.

“We went into it knowing we wanted to be more balanced and then without getting the plays you want, without getting the first downs you want, it gets you out of the rhythm of who you are,” Coach Mark Stoops said of the game plan in College Station.

It equaled one of UK’s worst offensive outings in a long time with just 178 total yards: 108 through the air and 70 on the ground.

That had Stoops and offensive coordinator Eddie Gran both doing more than hinting this week that Kentucky had to get back to being Kentucky.

“When people watch us on film, I want them to think, ‘Hey, that’s a physical football team. They’ll get after your tail and you’d better be ready for 60 minutes,’” Gran said of what he sees as UK’s offensive identity behind running back Benny Snell.

This season, 65 percent of Kentucky’s offensive yardage has come from the ground game. And 72.7 percent of its offensive scores have come via the run.

On his radio show this week, Stoops said: “We’ll get back to being who we are and playing physical and taking advantage of certain opportunities that we have.”

On paper, the Cats have picked a good week to reconnect with their true selves, facing a Vanderbilt defense that is next-to-last in the league in stopping the run, giving up 183.3 yards on the ground this season.

“We had a hard time in the last couple of weeks stopping the run,” Vandy Coach Derek Mason said this week, “so we’re not conceding the pass game, but we’ve got to get off the field on third down.

“We’ve got to really slow this run game down. If you don’t, you’re going to bleed out because they’ll control the clock.”

That was a game plan that worked a season ago against Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) when UK racked up 232 yards on the ground in a 44-21 win over the Commodores in Nashville.

Snell led the way with 116 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries, averaging 6.8 yards per run.

Mason remembered it well, noting of Snell: “He can run through you. He can run around you. … You’re going to feel his presence in the ball game.”

That seems likely on Saturday at Kroger Field when Kentucky tries to get back to what Kentucky does best.

“They know who they are,” Mason said. “We’ve seen who they are and we have to make our adjustments. In the end, it’s about stopping the run.”