For a Kentucky football program that so often plays the “we get no respect” card, the 2022 Wildcats are basking in preseason esteem.
Last month at SEC Media Days, reporters voted Mark Stoops and troops ahead of perennial UK nemeses Florida and Tennessee in second place behind defending national champion Georgia in the conference’s East Division.
For only the fifth time in school history, the Cats were ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 at No. 20.
For the first time in school history, the Cats were ranked in the preseason coaches Top 25 — now administered by USA Today — at No. 21.
What makes all the “talking season” acclaim for Kentucky fascinating is that it is a vote that Stoops has built the kind of program that can seamlessly replace major personnel losses off of a 10-win team in 2021.
With 11 returning starters, UK will enter 2022 tied for the second-fewest number in that category in the Southeastern Conference. Only Georgia, with 10 returning starters, has fewer.
Now, as Kentucky’s Sept. 3 opener with Miami (Ohio) and its crucial week-two SEC opener at Florida on Sept. 10 draw ever nearer, here are five things Stoops should be worried about.
1. Running back . We know Kentucky star Christopher Rodriguez will enter the 2022 season needing 1,135 yards on the ground to break Benny Snell’s UK career rushing record of 3,873. With C-Rod widely expected to begin the year serving a suspension for a publicly undisclosed reason, what we don’t know is when his season will start.
If Rodriguez is grounded, Kentucky has suggested it will rely on its running back depth and use a “by committee” approach to filling the void. Kavosiey Smoke, JuTahn McClain, Mike Drennen, LaVell Wright and incoming graduate transfer Ramon Jefferson — an FCS All-American last year at Sam Houston State — are all well-regarded.
But none have yet built the record of achievement against SEC competition that Rodriguez has.
When UK beat the Gators in The Swamp in 2018, Snell ran for 175 yards on 27 carries and the Cats controlled the game with a punishing rushing attack (303 total yards on the ground). That’s why not having Rodriguez and his 6.5 yards a carry career average in week two at Florida would be worrisome.
2. Offensive line . With the status of veteran left guard Kenneth Horsey for the season opener unclear due to an undisclosed injury, it is possible UK will enter 2022 with only a solitary returning starter on “The Big Blue Wall” — and Eli Cox is transitioning from right guard last season to center this year.
Of particular concern is left tackle, whose primary responsibility in the passing game is to protect the blind side of quarterback Will Levis. According to scuttlebutt out of the Kentucky camp, it appears that redshirt freshman David Wohlabaugh may have seized the upper hand to start. His pedigree is strong: Wohlabaugh’s father, Dave, spent nine years in the NFL as a center.
Still, it’s asking a lot of a first-year starter at left tackle to keep dynamic SEC edge rushers off of Levis.
3. Offensive coaching continuity . UK will have its third offensive coordinator in three seasons with Rich Scangarello following Liam Coen who followed Eddie Gran. Kentucky will have its fourth offensive line coach in three seasons with Zach Yenser following Eric Wolford who followed Jeff Jagodzinski who followed John Schlarman after the latter’s death during the 2020 season.
It is thought that the transition from the offense Coen brought to Kentucky from the Los Angeles Rams to the one Scangarello is importing from the San Francisco 49ers should be relatively smooth. The philosophical underpinnings of both are similarly rooted.
That is logical on paper, but it still has to work out on the field.
4. Pass defense . A year ago, the three best passing attacks Kentucky faced — Georgia, Mississippi State and Tennessee — strafed the UK air defenses. Combined, those three teams completed 65 of 79 passes for an average of 303.3 yards a game with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
In 2022, Kentucky will again face the same three quarterbacks, Georgia’s Stetson Bennett IV, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker.
Whether it is through an enhanced pass rush or stronger cornerback play, UK has to perform better against the most effective passing attacks.
5. Handling the hype . To a degree unprecedented in the Stoops coaching era, Kentucky enters 2022 needing to show it can manage high expectations yet still play with the same edge it has displayed in the past while feeling disrespected.
Playing and winning as one of “the hunted” is a very different kind of pressure than succeeding as an overlooked underdog.
In Stoops’ elevation of Kentucky football, living up to big expectations in a season in which the Wildcats will also be replacing major star power from a season ago would be the most impressive achievement yet.
Season opener
Miami (Ohio) at Kentucky
When: Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.
Series:Kentucky leads 8-4-1
Last meeting: Kentucky won 41-7 on Sept. 7, 2013 in Lexington.
