Louisville vs. Kentucky: Are The Wildcats Actually Good?
By Caleb Hall
Kentucky football is a lot worse than the national media advertises
The Louisville Cardinals will take on the Kentucky Wildcats tomorrow at noon inside of L&N Stadium, and will look to beat the Wildcats for the first time since 2017. Kentucky had high expectations after starting 5-0, but have since fallen to 6-5 and have lost 5 of their past 6 games.
Louisville however, has won 4 games in a row and is looking to cap off an 11-1 regular season with a win over Kentucky. The Wildcats have not particularly excelled in any aspect on the football field in the last few weeks, and although they have played very good competition they have been destroyed by the competition.
Kentucky has lost to Georgia by 38, Missouri by 17, Tennesse by 6, Alabama by 28, and South Carolina by 3.
Kentucky has been picked apart from the the elite teams in the SEC and while Louisville is a very good team, it is a rivalry game and anything can happen.
Kentucky Wildcat Offense:
The Kentucky offense has been somewhat of an enigma this season, as they have struggled to move the ball at all in recent weeks. Star transfer from NC State Devin Leary has looked like a shell of his former self and the offense in general has been very stagnant.
Leary does not have the protection he had on the offensive line at Kentucky, and he has consistently turned the ball over and underthrown/overthrown the ball a lot this season. Leary has thrown for 2,234 yards for a 56% completion rate, and 20 touchdowns to 9 interceptions.
Ray Davis has also been one of the better players on this offense, as he is one of the best running backs in the SEC. Kentucky runs the ball more than most of teams in the FBS, yet they still rank 92nd in the nation in rushing yards a game. That is not ideal if you’re head coach Mark Stoops. Davis is a great and talented running back, but with the tempo that the Kentucky runs, it is almost impossible to get him the right amount of plays that actually work in a game.
The Wildcat offense is the definition of stagnant and the tempo that the Wildcats run is the main reason why. Stoops is known as a conservative coach and because of that Kentucky seems to struggle to get plays off before the play clock expires. When Kentucky runs a tempo then seem like a decent offense, but that doesn’t happen very often.
Kentucky Wildcat Defense:
The Kentucky defense is definitely the backbone of this team, and Louisville should be weary of facing one of the better defenses in the nation. Kentucky against the rush is very solid, as they rank as the 22nd best rushing defense in all of the FBS. The Wildcats have always had a great defensive line under Stoops, and that stays the same for this year, as they are decent at getting to the quarterback and stopping the run.
The Wildcat passing defense is where the holes start to appear in the defense. They rank 83rd in the FBS when it comes to passing defense, and if you take away some of Kentucky’s easy season FCS victories, it would be much worse. Jalen Milroe and Carson Beck torched Kentucky’s secondary and Louisville needs to take advantage over them.
Consensus on the Kentucky Wildcats:
Kentucky is a decent team, but they cannot pair up with elite competition. Louisville may not be elite competition, but they are very well coached and have good talent all around the roster.
Kentucky’s passing offense and defense is where Louisville needs to hurt them, and if they can exploit Kentucky in those areas then a victory should be in the future for the Cardinals. Kentucky will likely make Jack Plummer throw the ball and stack the box to stop the Cardinal rushing attack. Plummer proved he can get it done in the 4th quarter this season, and hopefully he can do it again against the Wildcats.
Louisville should also look to get to the quarterback and stop the Kentucky rushing attack early. The Wildcats are a not a team that can come back from a big deficit, and if Louisville can force some early 3 and outs with sacks and tackles for loss, that will certainly help their odds.
Louisville has a big advantage just based on a coaching level alone, and Mark Stoops should instantly know the difference between this Louisville team, and the Louisville teams he has faced in the past.