Obviously, something has to change on the offensive side of the ball as Kentucky has failed to score a touchdown in two of its three games this year. There are plenty of reasons for that and many of them probably aren't fixable, but in an effort to try and find a solution I've come up with 5 things I'd do to try and help point more points on the board:
- Generate more explosive runs by giving Wilcox more touches. Kentucky's run blocking was surprisingly pretty solid against UGA, but despite that UK was unable to create much in the way of explosive runs; in fact, Kentucky's running backs do not have a single run over 20 yards this year. Kentucky absolutely has to produce more explosive plays going forward, and Jamarion Wilcox has the kind of quickness and speed needed to create those explosive plays. I think DSK as a tough, physical runner and Wilcox as dynamic homerun hitter make for a pretty solid 1-2 punch at RB. I just hope that Chip coming back from injury doesn't cut into Wilcox's carries because he's another DSK type back at best, and that just isn't what Kentucky's offense needs right now,
- Keep allowing Brock to use his legs. I think UK's coaching staff got into Brock's head a little too much with the "don't take too many hits" rhetoric after he got lit up several times against USM, which is ultimately why he looked so hesitant to run against South Carolina(pretty sure Stoops even alluded to this in the post game press conference). Brock looks most comfortable when he's able to incorporate his athleticism into the offense(whether it be actually running or throwing on the run) so I'd like to see us continue to use his athleticism.
- Make use of RPO/heavy play action after we've established the run. I don't think Kentucky's offense is geared towards having a lot of success throwing downfield traditionally, so I think we'll have to try and scheme some explosive passes off of RPO and play action going forward. If the Cats are able to establish that running game(including the explosive runs I mentioned with Wilcox above) then we can use RPO and play action to get defenders to cheat up and create some space in the 2nd level of the defense for us to exploit.
- Embrace Key, Maclin, and Farrier as your 3 best receiving options. In my opinion, these are Kentucky's 3 most reliable receivers. I think Key is quietly playing really well this year, but unfortunately the offense has been so terrible that he has no stats to show for it. Malaki Starks for UGA is considered to be one of the top defenders in this upcoming draft class and a surefire first round pick and Key had two really impressive routes on him last night: one in the first quarter resulted in a catch for a first down, and another in the 4th quarter drew a holding call on Starks and gave Kentucky a big first down late. He's a really solid receiver who would have a chance at 1,000 yards in a competent passing offense.
Maclin is a proven 1,000 yard receiver(albeit at a smaller school) who has been steady when the ball has been delivered to him on time and on target. I'd honestly like to see us get him the ball in space a little bit more instead of Barion because I think he has some actual YAC ability. Either way, he and Key are definitely our two best receivers, and they need to be the focal points of the passing game going forward.
Farrier came into the game over Barion on several occasions last night, and this isn't a coincidence. Brown simply isn't a good receiver at all. He can't catch, routinely displays poor effort and body language, and always seems to be a threat to fumble(he juggled the ball on his final catch late in the game while going to the ground). He also really isn't good in space at all as his only plus athletic trait is his straight line speed; he doesn't have the ability to make people miss or run through tackles which is why the plays we design in space for him rarely seem to work. While Farrier may not be the biggest or most athletic player, I trust him a lot more to play with high effort and come down with the ball when it's thrown his way. - If all else fails, bring in Wimsatt. If nothing else works and we still aren't scoring points midway through the season I think you have to bring in Gavin and try and run an offense similar to what we had with Bowden. It won't be as successful because we don't have the OL we had that year and Wimsatt isn't the runner that Bowden was, but the season would probably already be over if it got to this point so you may as well try it.
