Three final thoughts before Kentucky football faces the LSU Tigers
Three thoughts before Kentucky football plays host to the LSU Tigers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Kroger Field.
1. LSU’s quarterback is a lefty
Max Johnson has an unusual trait. LSU’s sophomore quarterback is a left-handed passer.
The son of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson has completed 113 of 181 passes (62.4 percent) for 1,468 yards and 16 touchdowns with four interceptions. Johnson’s passer rating of 155.30 ranks 39th nationally. (UK’s Will Levis ranks 54th at 144.46.)
So is Kentucky’s preparation any different for a left-handed quarterback than it is for a right-handed quarterback?
“Not much different,” UK defensive coordinator Bard White said this week. “It’s funny, I was at Georgia as a freshman with David Greene. He reminds me a lot (of Greene), just in terms of his stature and his movement and his ability to throw a really nice deep ball. He’s got a really good touch on his pass. He can throw the ball out to the field from a near-hash, so he’s got plenty of arm strength. And he’s far more mobile than people probably give him credit for. He does a lot with his legs. He can improvise when he needs to.”
While the Tigers rank 128th out of 130 FBS schools in rushing yards per game, LSU is 19th nationally in passing offense.
As for Johnson’s tendencies, there is one thing that the Kentucky defense must keep in mind, White said.
“You just understand which side he would tend to probably want to avoid, the opposite of righty,” he said. “You’d want to work toward your dominant hand. So it’s a little bit different in that regard. Nothing drastic.”
2. Saturday’s game features the top two SEC receivers
Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson leads the conference in receiving yards with 467 on 29 receptions. The junior is averaging 16 yards per reception. He’s scored three touchdowns via the pass. That equals the number of TD passes in his two years at Nebraska.
LSU’s Kayshon Boutte is second in receiving yards at 436 on his 30 catches. He’s averaging 14.53 yards per reception, and has scored a league-leading nine touchdowns via the pass. He’s caught at least one TD pass in his last seven games, tying the school record set by Jarvis Landry.
Last Saturday, Robinson took a bubble screen 41 yards for a touchdown in UK’s 20-13 win over No. 10 Florida.
Last Saturday, Boutte went 55 yards on a slant pass to set up LSU’s first touchdown — a 31-yard Boutte reception — in the Tigers’ 24-19 home loss to Auburn.
It should be a fun night watching these two work.
3. Kentucky will need the home crowd again
The last time Mark Stoops’ Wildcats lost a one-score game was the 42-41 overtime loss to Ole Miss on Oct. 3 last season. Since then, UK has won six straight one-score games, starting with a 38-35 victory over Vanderbilt on Nov. 14 last year.
That was followed by the 23-21 victory over North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl. This season, Kentucky has won its last four games by seven points or less — 35-28 over Missouri; 28-23 over Chattanooga; 16-10 over South Carolina and 20-13 over Florida.
The Kroger Field atmosphere last week surely played a role in the Cats outlasting the Gators. Florida was whistled for eight false start penalties. Two of those came on Florida’s final possession when the Gators snapped the ball eight times in the red zone, including seven times in a goal-to-go situation, and still didn’t score.
Longtime UK football fans have said it was the loudest they’ve ever heard for a Kentucky home game.
With Saturday’s game being a sellout, can we expect the same atmosphere?
“I have no doubt,” Stoops said Monday. “The BBN, we’re just feeding them. They’ll be back out there with full effect on Saturday night. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 11:39 AM.
