The five things Kentucky football fans should be worried about
At his first major outing during college football’s 2023 “talking season,” Mark Stoops offered a rosy assessment of the Kentucky program he leads.
“I feel very good about the program,” Stoops said at SEC Media Days. “I feel good about the new additions in the players that we brought in to help us with the current roster, the nucleus that we have. I love the coaching staff.”
Coming off a disappointing 7-6 campaign in 2022, Kentucky enters 2023 with what appears, on paper, to be a stronger all-around team.
Yet for UK backers yearning to see Stoops and troops take another step upward in the hyper-competitive Southeastern Conference, there are five areas that merit worry.
Worry 1. The offensive line
Last season’s crumbling of the Big Blue Wall can be illustrated via some grim numbers.
Only two FBS teams, Colorado State (59) and Akron (55), allowed more quarterback sacks than Kentucky (47) did in 2022. Only 23 teams rushed for fewer yards a game than the Wildcats (116.2).
To execute a quick fix, Stoops and Co. worked the transfer portal hard, bringing in new offensive linemen from Alabama (Tanner Bowles), Ohio State (Ben Christman), Southern California (Courtland Ford) and Northern Illinois (Marques Cox).
Of the four, it is NIU transfer Cox who may be the most vital. If the 6-foot-5, 311-pound super-senior can solidify Kentucky at left tackle, it should go a long way toward stabilizing the Wildcats’ entire offensive front.
“Obviously we have to improve,” Stoops says. “We have to protect the quarterback. We have to be physical and have some balance. (We) went out and hit the transfer portal with some players that will help us on the offensive side of the ball and protect the quarterback.”
Worry 2: Devin Leary’s health
The urgency for Kentucky to restore its capacity to protect the passer is obvious. In North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary (6,807 career passing yards, 62 touchdown passes vs. only 16 interceptions), the Wildcats landed, arguably, the best quarterback available in this season’s college football “free agency.”
However, the 6-1, 212-pound Leary has twice seen past seasons cut short due to injury. In 2020, Leary played only four games before a broken fibula sidelined him. Last year, Leary played in six games before a torn pectoral muscle knocked him out.
Recent Kentucky football history (see below) illustrates the necessity of keeping Leary on the field.
Worry 3: Backup quarterback
Kentucky went 0-2 last season in games started by QBs other than regular starter Will Levis. The Cats fell 24-14 to South Carolina with ex-Somerset High School star Kaiya Sheron at QB in the season’s sixth game and lost 21-0 to Iowa in the Music City Bowl with then-true freshman Destin Wade running the offense.
That was a continuation of a trend.
Other than the remarkable 6-2 mark UK compiled down the stretch of the 2019 season with wide receiver Lynn Bowden running an option-heavy attack from the quarterback position, Kentucky has not won a game started by a conventional backup QB since Nov. 19, 2016.
UK has lost its last six games in which it has started a true second-string quarterback.
One of new/old Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s biggest tasks is developing a backup QB good enough to win with should the Wildcats need one.
Worry 4: The special teams
Last season’s numbers explain why Stoops felt compelled to bring on a new assistant coach, Jay Boulware, with extensive experience coaching special teams.
In 2022, only two FBS teams, Louisiana Tech and North Texas (six apiece) had more place-kicks blocked than Kentucky (five). After having two punts blocked, UK ranked 110th out of 131 FBS schools in that category.
UK was 119th in the FBS in kickoff coverage (23.86 yards a return allowed) and 120th in punt coverage (13.64). The Wildcats were 92nd in kickoff returns (18.74 yards a return) and 105th in punt returns (4.96). With only 16-of-24 field goals made, Kentucky place-kicking ranked 92nd in the FBS.
Since his hiring, Boulware has brought in new players at place-kicker, punter and long-snapper to compete with returning UK specialists. A major factor in the fate of the Cats’ 2023 season depends on Boulware’s special teams-coaching acumen proving as good as advertised.
Worry 5: An unusually structured UK schedule
Kentucky’s 2023 slate is divided into two distinct phases.
UK could be favored in six of its first seven games, the sole exception being the Wildcats’ trip to two-time defending national champion Georgia on Oct. 7.
To produce a memorable season, Kentucky must “hold serve” in the early season, including prevailing in conference games at Vanderbilt (Sept. 23) and vs. Florida (Sept. 30) and Missouri (Oct. 14) against foes that will each carry extra motivation to beat UK.
After Kentucky’s open date (Oct. 21), however, the Wildcats will close with a potentially-brutal five game stretch. UK will have only two home games, vs. Tennessee (Oct. 28) and Alabama (Nov. 11). The Cats will also face three challenging road games — at Mississippi State (Nov. 4), South Carolina (Nov. 18) and archrival Louisville (Nov. 25).
If Kentucky can produce the longed-for “breakthrough season” against such a back-loaded slate, it will unquestionably have been earned.
2023 Kentucky football schedule
Home games in all capital letters. Remaining kickoff times and TV assignments to be announced later.
Sept. 2: BALL STATE, Noon (SEC Network)
Sept. 9: EASTERN KENTUCKY, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sept. 16: AKRON, 7:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sept. 23: At Vanderbilt
Sept. 30: FLORIDA
Oct. 7: At Georgia
Oct. 14: MISSOURI
Oct. 21: Open
Oct. 28: TENNESSEE
Nov. 4: At Mississippi State
Nov. 11: ALABAMA
Nov. 18: At South Carolina
Nov. 25: At Louisville
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 12:43 PM.
