Bottom Line: This UK offense is a very balanced one that efficiently gets the ball spread to the numerous playmakers they have on the ground and in the air. Little is a big key to their offense. Without him they become more slanted towards the pass. Woodson does a good job of protecting the ball and has only thrown an INT in 4 of his 10 games this year although he did throw 2 against us last year. This offense is tough to scheme because they do different things so well. They love to spread the field in a shotgun look and run Little or Locke on a draw so getting a push from our DTs could disrupt what they’re trying to do (it never hurts). The bottom line is they’ve scored points on just about everyone but like our offense, they’ve had some hiccups, only scoring 14 against Miss St and 23 against SC. The difference between our offenses is that their struggles have come recently while ours were early.

Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: This is such a balanced team and Woodson is such a solid passer it’s hard to say what one matchup could prove the biggest key. They’re an excellent 3rd down team, converting more than 50% so getting them in 3rd and long will be key. To do that I think we’ll need more big performances from Owens, Atkins and Weston inside. If we can get a push there and make Woodson move, eventually it will result in big plays. He’s good enough that we won’t see the Cox effect take over but we should see it start to pay off late.

UK Defense

As strong as the UK offense is, the defense has held them back from becoming a dominant team. They are 97th nationally in rush defense (10th in the SEC), a surprising 19th nationally against the pass (6th in the SEC) and 63rd (10th in the SEC) in total defense. They average giving up over 197 yards per game on the ground. Their scoring defense is actually 11th in the SEC, yielding over 28 ppg. They’ve given up 30 or more 5 times through 10 games and are running into an offense that’s clicking as well as any in the country.

Up front the Wildcats most productive DL is 6-3, 268 pound sophomore Jeremy Jarmon, whose 10.5 TFLs and 9 sacks lead the team. His 9 sacks account for nearly half of UK’s 20 on the year. He’s also an impressive 4th on the team in tackles, including 10 against LSU [4]. Opposite him is Dominic Lewis, a senior who’s, well, a senior. At DT, UK uses a rotation of guys.

The UK LB corps is the strength of the D. WLB Wesley Woodyard (Lagrange native…get ready to hear that about 40 times Saturday) is having a phenomenal year, leading the team in tackles including 18 against Arkansas [5] (his 102 tackles are 50 more than the second place man). MLB Braxton Kelley is another fine player although a bit undersized for a MLB at 6’ and 225 pounds. Johnny Williams holds down the SLB spot. All 3 starting LBs are in the top 6 in tackles. Their lack of sacks conveys their lack of blitzing (at least successful blitzing). Former UGA target Micah Johnson is currently the backup at MLB and he gets a lot of playing time. He’s a LOAD.

UK uses a pair of sophomores at CB in Paul Warford and Trevard Lindley. Lindley leads the team in INTs with 2 and is a physical CB, getting involved in a ton of plays (2nd in tackles). Their defensive stats clearly indicate they’ve gotten good CB play this season. Safeties are solid, if nondescript in Roger Williams and Calvin Harrison.

Bottom Line: We’re clicking on offense like we rarely have in recent memory. We’ve been especially solid on the ground recently and that’s an area that UK is particularly bad. They’ve yielded the following rushing yardage totals to a few teams this season: 324 (Kent State), 338 (Arkansas), 261 (LSU), 200 (Miss St) and 239 (Vandy). That probably has as much to do with the lack of passing yards against them as anything. Teams have had tremendous success running the ball, why should they pass? I think we’ll see more of what we’ve established the last few weeks, solid, effective running game that allows the play action passing to key off of it. All of it boils down to successful OL play. UK struggles getting in the backfield defensively (61st nationally in sacks and 86th in tackles for loss).

Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Just watch Moreno. He’s the most infectious player I can remember. He’s really, really good. He makes plays. Watch him every play and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I got a kick out of watching him last week on a pass play, trying to find someone to block, moving around the line as quick as he would on a running play. The kid just loves the game.