Mark Stoops has done a stunning job a Kentucky – especially given some of the injury issues he has faced during his tenure – but it was very interesting to hear just how intent he is on moving the program forward during his weekly press conference.
We get our first look at what that entails on Saturday as the Wildcats face UL Monroe.
By Steve Wright
Here are the three keys:
1 – A new offensive identity
The Wildcats have a new quarterback in Will Levis and a new offensive coordinator behind him calling plays in Liam Coen. Coen – who most recently worked with the L.A. Rams and quarterback Jared Goff – will be tasked with bringing the best out of the Penn State transfer and using Levis’ much-vaunted arm strength to make Kentucky a more dynamic and more difficult to defend team in 2021. There will be hiccups out of the gate, but against UL Monroe we need to see the basics of what this offense will look like later in the year.
2 – Sharpness
Kentucky has not been a good opening day team under Stoops. Defeats in 2013, 2016, and 2020 set those seasons off on the wrong foot, while there have been plenty of narrow opening day wins that were way too close for comfort with the ‘Cats as heavy favorites. UL Monroe – who was winless in 2020 – is the perfect team for Kentucky to put to the sword and show the rest of the SEC that this is a sharper and more explosive Kentucky squad than they are used to seeing.
3 – The Rodriguez/Smoke splint
More emphasis on the passing game will inevitably lead to less carries for the running backs. Both Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke are good enough to eat up the carries, so the use of each by Coen will be very interesting to monitor. Does he go with the hot hand or does he game plan for both backs in both the running and the passing game. The Warhawks won’t have the bodies on the defensive line to stand up to the always aggressive Kentucky front, so the running game will be there for the taking should Coen go that route.
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