The opening conference game of the SEC season will take place on Saturday as the Missouri Tigers travel to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. Both schools are 1-0 and both have high-end goals for this season that will be quickly derailed with a defeat here. Here are the three keys for the Tigers to leave Kentucky with a win:
By Steve Wright
Keep the balance
The 34-24 win over Central Michigan is actually a much better result than it looks like on paper. The Tigers and Chippewas traded blows for the duration of the contest and it was a third-quarter that the Tigers won 7-0 that ended up being the difference. One way that the Tigers were able to pull out the victory was that they stayed balanced throughout. They rushed for 211 yards and passed for 257 and while neither number is massive, it was enough to keep an experienced defense on the back foot and constantly guessing as to what was coming next. The balance must be there against Kentucky on Saturday.
Stop Will Levis
This is a different Kentucky from the one we have seen grinding out rushing yards over the last decade. In Penn State transfer Will Levis they have a quarterback with an arm as talented as any in the SEC and he took over their Week 1 game against UL Monroe as he threw for 367 yards and four touchdowns. The addition of wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson through the transfer portal has given Levis an extra weapon and preparing for an offense led by a former NFL assistant (Liam Coen) is going to be a challenge having had just one game film viewing of it.
Get to the quarterback
Part of the plan to stop Levis has to be to hit him hard and hit him often. The Kentucky offensive line is known for being one of the best units in the SEC, but the Wildcats had some issues in stopping Warhawks’ defenders from getting to the quarterback. That should be music to the ears of a Mizzou squad that leads the nation in sacks per game with a ridiculous NINE in their opening contest. The sacks came from everywhere too, something that will make it much more difficult for Kentucky to try to contain the Tigers’ pass rush.
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