First Scouting Report: UK will open 2022 against a team greatly impacted by transfers
An early look ahead to Kentucky’s 2022 football season opener:
The opponent
Kentucky (10-3, 5-3 SEC in 2021) will open its 2022 season against Mid-American Conference foe Miami (Ohio) (7-6, 5-3 MAC) on Sept. 3 at Kroger Field.
The RedHawks achieved a third straight winning season with a 27-14 victory over North Texas in the Frisco Football Classic in Frisco, Texas, on Dec. 23 of last year.
It was Miami’s first bowl win since the 2010 season.
As you will read below, since the end of last season, Miami Coach Chuck Martin’s roster has been heavily-impacted by the transfer portal, including adding three players coming from Power Five conference schools.
Most recent meeting
Maxwell Smith threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Kentucky rolled up a whopping 675 yards of total offense as the Wildcats gave Mark Stoops his first victory as UK head coach with a 41-7 win over Miami on Sept. 7, 2013, at the venue then known as Commonwealth Stadium.
Series history
Kentucky leads 8-4-1 and has won the past three meetings.
Know your foe
1. For Miami’s Martin, the transfer portal has very much been a mixed blessing this offseason.
On the plus side, the RedHawks have added at least five transfers to their roster, three of whom came from Power Five conference teams.
Joining Miami are: Redshirt-junior defensive back Michael Dowell, who started four games last season at nickel back for Michigan State and made 40 tackles and broke up three passes; redshirt-sophomore defensive lineman Corey Suttle, who played in 14 games with five career tackles at Iowa State; and sophomore linebacker Ty Wise, who appeared in 10 games last season for Indiana, mostly on special teams, and made three tackles.
Miami has also added redshirt-junior defensive back Nolan Johnson, who played in 36 career games at East Carolina with 74 tackles; and redshirt-senior offensive lineman John Brekke, a First Team All-Patriot League selection last season at FCS program Holy Cross.
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2. On the debit side, Miami has taken major transfer losses along its defensive front.
Most prominently, former Covington Catholic standout Kameron Butler, a disruptive force (53 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, eight sacks; three forced fumbles) for the RedHawks last season at defensive end, transferred to Virginia after spurning offers from Iowa, Mississippi and Penn State, among others.
Miami also lost linebacker Ivan Pace, a First Team All-MAC selection in 2021, to Cincinnati and defensive end Lonnie Phelps (9.5 sacks) to Kansas.
Meanwhile, ex-Michigan State and Kentucky wide receiver Tre’von Morgan, who left UK after last season and was announced as an incoming transfer by Miami, is reportedly already back in the transfer portal.
3. Miami has prioritized recruiting in the commonwealth of Kentucky in recent years.
Among the Kentuckians on the RedHawks roster are: former CovCath tight end Jack Coldiron, who caught 16 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown in 2021.
Ex-Lexington Catholic offensive lineman Sam Vaughn, a 6-7, 298-pound redshirt sophomore; former Clark County offensive lineman Ben Jackson, a 6-7, 315-pound redshirt sophomore; ex-Ballard defensive lineman Terran Hearn, a 6-3, 236-pound redshirt freshman; and redshirt freshman defensive back Eli Blakely, a 6-2, 195-pound Manual product.
There are more Kentuckians on the way, too.
In its 2022 signing class, Miami added prolific-passing quarterback Joe Humphreys of Daviess County and defensive back Mason Moore of Lexington Christian Academy.
Moore is the son of former UK linebacker star Marty Moore.
This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
