UK promises more balance in its offense this year. What exactly does that mean?
You can bet the mortgage on this: Kentucky is going to throw the ball more than it did last year.
Of course, that’s not a hard prediction to forecast. The Wildcats’ 257 pass attempts and 1,478 total passing yards in 2019 lagged every other team in the Southeastern Conference and were record lows in head coach Mark Stoops’ tenure, but were the byproduct of an offensive retooling centered around wide receiver Lynn Bowden, whose legs more than made up for a limited ability to toss the rock.
With Terry Wilson (and his 66.6 percent completion percentage) back under center, UK has every right to feel confident in its ability to move the ball through the air. Even if Wilson were to be sidelined again, the depth behind him is perceived to be much more capable of handling things if needed.
The guys catching balls sure feel good about where things sit.
“We’re getting our timing down and today’s practice was really good,” senior Josh Ali said during a teleconference Tuesday night following UK’s fifth practice of the fall. “He threw a lot of balls to me today. It’s going great, actually, I can’t wait until everything starts back up.”
Run vs. pass
When the Cats talk about being more balanced, what exactly are they saying? Is it balance in the sense of attempting to take the passing game to the next level — akin to the offensive revolutions that have occurred in the SEC West at juggernauts like Alabama and LSU — or something more similar to what the first three years of offense under Eddie Gran looked like, when UK did throw the ball but favored the run fairly heavily?
“I think for sure that we want to develop the passing game,” UK”s co-offensive coordinator said Tuesday.
Gran cited UK’s first two 2019 games, in which Wilson played before suffering a season-ending knee injury, as examples of the balance sought by the coaching staff. The Cats ran 65 plays in their season opener against Toledo, 39 runs and 26 pass attempts, and 75 against Eastern Michigan (39 rushes, 36 pass attempts).
UK against Florida in game three, with Sawyer Smith at quarterback, threw the ball 35 times and ran 41 times. Losses at Mississippi State and South Carolina over the next two weeks were the only times last season that UK’s number of pass attempts exceeded its rushes.
Since Gran took over the offense in 2016, UK has averaged 24 (2016), 25.4 (2017), 22.8 (2018) and 19.8 (2019) pass attempts per game. In those same seasons its average rush attempts were 43.1 (2016), 37.5 (2017), 41 (2018) and 43.9 (2019). Kentucky’s offensive identity to this point has been rooted in its run game, and that’s not a bad thing; its annual win total has steadily crept up over the years, too.
‘A great feel’
“Balance” doesn’t just mean play distribution, though. Gran wants to see more receivers making plays, which is something that group — in addition to UK’s running backs and tight ends — showed signs of early before becoming downfield blockers for the bulk of last season. Eight unique players caught at least one pass in each of UK’s first two games last year, and nine caught at least one ball against Florida.
“You just don’t want to have, like last year, we had 55 runs in a game and two passes. That’s not balance,” Gran said. “We’re going to be able to, because our passing game is getting better, to mix it around a little bit more and keep people off balance in just a different manner than we did last year.”
Fans cry out for teams to “pass the ball more,” but at the root of that often is more a desire to move the ball quickly down the field and keep the opposing defense on its toes. Kentucky should be capable of playing more uptempo, as needed, in 2020, but it won’t look to sling it around for the sake of achieving that goal.
“I think you’ve gotta really be smart, (look) what’s happening with the defense,” Gran said. “I really listen to Coach Stoops and he gets a great feel for where we’re at in the game. I think that that’s kind of gone away, in terms of (being) fast, every 20 seconds, just getting on and going as fast as you can go. Sometimes that can hurt you. I don’t think that that’s our M.O.
“I think you have to have change of pace, though. For sure, we’re in a position now that we can change the pace sometimes and go really fast.”
Translation: We’re going to throw it more, but don’t expect a fireworks show.
Whatever the offense ultimately looks like, it should be finely tuned. Gran lauded the team’s quickness in picking up installs in camp, crediting the offseason work they were able to take part in prior to the fall practice schedule kicking in last week.
“We just finished five practices and we didn’t slow down,” Gran said. “We went through all five installs. That’s never happened here. They have been unbelievable and picked it up. It’s not perfect, but I sure do like where they’re going.”
Season opener
Kentucky at Auburn
When: Sept. 26
