More advanced numbers
Kentucky is dead last in the SEC in average starting field position. The Cats get the ball on average at their own 24 yard line. Effectively, the average start for Kentucky follows a touchback or the equivalent of it. In other words, the return game has been nonexistent, punts have been downed deep in Kentucky’s own territory by opponents, penalties have set the Cats back closer to the goal line, etc.
Average starting field position:
Florida: 33 yard line (leads SEC)
Arkansas (32 yard line) through LSU (26.4 yard line) occupy spots 2-13 in rankings
Kentucky: 24 yard line
UK is two yards worse than the next worst team in the SEC in this category. It’s worth noting that starting deep in your own territory isn’t indicative of being a bad team necessarily. For whatever reason LSU, Mississippi State and some other quality teams aren’t good here.
That’s not all.
Kentucky is dead last nationally in starting field position. 128th out of 128.
Average finishing field position:
Kentucky: Opponents’ 47 yard line (12th SEC)
Kentucky drives the ball better on average than Missouri (they’re 12th in starting field position and 14th in finishing) and Vanderbilt (11th in starting, 13th in finishing). Perhaps very surprisingly Texas A&M is bad in this category (7th in starting, 10th in finishing). Arkansas leads the SEC with their average drive ending at their opponents’ 32 yard line.
That’s a significant difference and a strange but interesting metric. The average Arkansas drive finishes 15 yards deeper on the field than the average Kentucky drive. Part of that is the Razorbacks start at their own 32 and Kentucky starts at their own 24, but that still means Arkansas drives 7 yards more than Kentucky per drive.
That might seem like a no brainer but it shouldn’t be. Kentucky’s offense has struggled to put the ball in the end zone but even struggling Air Raid offenses should not struggle to move the ball between the 20’s. Usually Air Raid’s run into problems in the red zone if they have offensive woes.
Flip it over: Where do Kentucky’s opponents start and finish on average?
Kentucky is dead last in the SEC in terms of where opponents’ drives start. The average starting field position for Kentucky’s opponents is their own 32 yard line. In short, Kentucky’s opponents start on average where Arkansas and Florida start on average. That is a stunning statistic if you think about it. The very best teams in starting field position? That's the average starting field position for all opponents against Kentucky. In a 14-9 loss to Florida, can't you see how that would make an enormous difference?That means UK’s giving up big returns, committing penalties, not pinning teams deep, is turning the ball over in the middle of the field, etc.
That stat is related very closely to where Kentucky’s drives start/end. That makes sense, of course, unless you’ve got an all-world punter. And Landon Foster’s not having a good season by his own previous standard.
SEC Rank: Average Opponent Starting Field Position-
Florida: 24.5 yard line (no surprise, they led in average starting field position when they have the ball).
From Texas A&M (2nd) through Vanderbilt (13th) the league’s schools give up starting field position average of the 25.4 yard line through the 31.8 yard line.
Kentucky’s opponents start at the 32. Hence, dead last. That’s 84th nationally. Better than where UK is starting, but still a huge deficit for the defense to overcome as they’re trying to get off the field before giving up scoring position. The defense bears minimal responsibility for the average starting position of opponents -- their responsibility is a couple of steps removed, at least. The offense and special teams have not helped them out and that’s no shock to anyone here.
Kentucky is 112th in the country in terms of where opponents finish drives on average. The average opposing team drive finishes at the Kentucky 30.5 yard line. In other words, opponents are camping out in UK territory. Tremendous pressure on a UK defense that’s also giving up a ton of plays per drive (which we’ll get to later; major fatigue impact here). The bend will break, and we’ve seen it happen.
So Kentucky starts deeper in their own territory than any other SEC school. Kentucky’s opponents start further up the field than the opponents for any other SEC school.
This stat is related to both offense and defense but it speaks to special teams more than most other advanced statistics.
Kentucky is dead last in the SEC in average starting field position. The Cats get the ball on average at their own 24 yard line. Effectively, the average start for Kentucky follows a touchback or the equivalent of it. In other words, the return game has been nonexistent, punts have been downed deep in Kentucky’s own territory by opponents, penalties have set the Cats back closer to the goal line, etc.
Average starting field position:
Florida: 33 yard line (leads SEC)
Arkansas (32 yard line) through LSU (26.4 yard line) occupy spots 2-13 in rankings
Kentucky: 24 yard line
UK is two yards worse than the next worst team in the SEC in this category. It’s worth noting that starting deep in your own territory isn’t indicative of being a bad team necessarily. For whatever reason LSU, Mississippi State and some other quality teams aren’t good here.
That’s not all.
Kentucky is dead last nationally in starting field position. 128th out of 128.
Average finishing field position:
Kentucky: Opponents’ 47 yard line (12th SEC)
Kentucky drives the ball better on average than Missouri (they’re 12th in starting field position and 14th in finishing) and Vanderbilt (11th in starting, 13th in finishing). Perhaps very surprisingly Texas A&M is bad in this category (7th in starting, 10th in finishing). Arkansas leads the SEC with their average drive ending at their opponents’ 32 yard line.
That’s a significant difference and a strange but interesting metric. The average Arkansas drive finishes 15 yards deeper on the field than the average Kentucky drive. Part of that is the Razorbacks start at their own 32 and Kentucky starts at their own 24, but that still means Arkansas drives 7 yards more than Kentucky per drive.
That might seem like a no brainer but it shouldn’t be. Kentucky’s offense has struggled to put the ball in the end zone but even struggling Air Raid offenses should not struggle to move the ball between the 20’s. Usually Air Raid’s run into problems in the red zone if they have offensive woes.
Flip it over: Where do Kentucky’s opponents start and finish on average?
Kentucky is dead last in the SEC in terms of where opponents’ drives start. The average starting field position for Kentucky’s opponents is their own 32 yard line. In short, Kentucky’s opponents start on average where Arkansas and Florida start on average. That is a stunning statistic if you think about it. The very best teams in starting field position? That's the average starting field position for all opponents against Kentucky. In a 14-9 loss to Florida, can't you see how that would make an enormous difference?That means UK’s giving up big returns, committing penalties, not pinning teams deep, is turning the ball over in the middle of the field, etc.
That stat is related very closely to where Kentucky’s drives start/end. That makes sense, of course, unless you’ve got an all-world punter. And Landon Foster’s not having a good season by his own previous standard.
SEC Rank: Average Opponent Starting Field Position-
Florida: 24.5 yard line (no surprise, they led in average starting field position when they have the ball).
From Texas A&M (2nd) through Vanderbilt (13th) the league’s schools give up starting field position average of the 25.4 yard line through the 31.8 yard line.
Kentucky’s opponents start at the 32. Hence, dead last. That’s 84th nationally. Better than where UK is starting, but still a huge deficit for the defense to overcome as they’re trying to get off the field before giving up scoring position. The defense bears minimal responsibility for the average starting position of opponents -- their responsibility is a couple of steps removed, at least. The offense and special teams have not helped them out and that’s no shock to anyone here.
Kentucky is 112th in the country in terms of where opponents finish drives on average. The average opposing team drive finishes at the Kentucky 30.5 yard line. In other words, opponents are camping out in UK territory. Tremendous pressure on a UK defense that’s also giving up a ton of plays per drive (which we’ll get to later; major fatigue impact here). The bend will break, and we’ve seen it happen.
So Kentucky starts deeper in their own territory than any other SEC school. Kentucky’s opponents start further up the field than the opponents for any other SEC school.
This stat is related to both offense and defense but it speaks to special teams more than most other advanced statistics.
