Analyzing UK’s passing game: See how often each receiver is targeted.

Since Kentucky took its first loss of the season, falling 20-14 in overtime at Texas A&M, there has been a lot of discussion about the play of UK’s wide receivers.

In fact, Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader wrote about Kentucky’s passing game, which ranks last in the SEC, and what steps Mark Stoops and Eddie Gran are taking to jump-start that area of the offense.

I went back and took a look at how many times each UK receiver has been thrown to or targeted through the first six games.

I found that Lynn Bowden has been far-and-away the favorite target of quarterback Terry Wilson. It should be noted that many of Bowden’s catches have come from the bubble screen and the occasional pop/shovel pass behind the line of scrimmage, like the one Bowden took 54 yards for a touchdown against the Aggies.

A pair of seniors, wide receiver Dorian Baker and tight end C.J. Conrad are next on the list. Then comes running back Benny Snell, who is being targeted about twice a game on average.

Kentucky football 2018 individual game-by-game stats

Here’s a full breakdown of Kentucky’s receivers by targets:

Kentucky football targets

Vanderbilt scouting report

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 11:20 AM.