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The 2-10 2013 season is wrapped in a neat explanatory package; not enough offensive plays, big plays given up by the defense, time of possession, opponents third down conversion rate, and turnover margin.
We need not go any further back than the Tennessee game which was the last game of the 2013 season and won by the Vols 27-14. The Wildcats accumulated 23 first-downs to UT’s 22. They had 71 plays to 63 by Tennessee. Only 24-yards difference in the total yardage than the Vols. So what was the reason for the Cats to lose the game by a 13-pooint margin?
Offensive big plays by the Volunteers. They score touchdowns on three big plays of forty yards or more. Their defense registered five sacks on Kentucky’s Maxwell Smith, one of them coming on the UK five-yard line and an easy touchdown. Senior defensive end Corey Miller had a season high 4.5 sacks including the previous one alluded to. A 43-yard touchdown pass was scored by UT’s Jason Croom after a double-bobble of an interception attempt by true freshman Jaleel Hytche. The Wildcats gave up six big scoring plays during last season of 35-yards or more.
Most of the big-play makers on the UK side were first year players and first year junior college players. What can the Cats look forward to in the 2014 season? Not to create any false hope but the bread needed to stay in the oven a little longer. And perhaps Patrick Towles will grow into the quarterback he was expected to be when he arrived at UK. Big-play makers need someone to get the ball to them and the Cats are expected to have some of those this season then perhaps they can pull the bread out of the oven.
As in the aforementioned the categories needed to win in the tough SEC the Cats need to make a big leap in the coming season. Offensively the Cats weren’t too bad when they had possession of the football. The thing that was sorely missing was big plays and anemic production in the return game on special teams. The Wildcats had the ball only and average of 56-plays a game to the opponent’s 68-plays a game. Offensive coordinator Neal Brown said having seventy offensive plays a game he considers a success.
Though the offensive line helped the Cats to 4.8-yards rushing per game the time of possession was thirteenth in the league. On several occasions offensive coordinator Neal Brown lamented the weakness up the middle in the offensive line. Having negative plays plagued the Cats last season. This year with red shirt freshman Ramsey Meyers stepping in for Kevin Mitchell at right guard and the most improved player on offense center red shirt sophomore Jon Toth who started eleven games last season should bolster that line. Offensive coach John Schlarman is very high on Meyers. It goes without saying that the five sacks given up against Tennessee has haunted Schlarman a many a night. In the spring the o-line showed promise and with more depth than usual.
The defensive line is expected to be much improved with depth. It will feature all-star Alvin “Bud” Dupree with a second year junior college transfer Za’Darius Smith anchoring the other side. That group has a long way to come but could improve off their 44-percent opponent’s third down conversion rate which was 14th in the SEC.
Losing Avery Williamson from the linebacking corps is a big loss and the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach D. J. Eliot this spring was searching around for a replacement. But expressed some hope in some prospects base on spring practice. Josh Forrest continued to build on his 2013 late season play. He is big and has some athleticism. Travaughn Pascal started eight games last season and had some good moments – an injury prevented him playing against Georgia or Tennessee plus practice in the spring. Head Coach Mark Stoops is far more tight-lipped about the team’s injuries that the two previous head coaches so we don’t know the nature of Pascal’s injury but he is expected back for his senior year. Last season Eliot said Pascal 6-foot-3, 250-pounds is the fastest linebacker on the team. Other players expected to bolster the linebacking corps are junior Khalid Henderson, senior Miles Simpson, and true junior Daron Blaylock. Blaylock had a very good spring game for this having been his first time playing linebacker. He is a player with a lot of ability but the coaches have been trying him at different positions on the defense to get him on the field. These guys make up the corps group that have to improve a turnover margin that was 13th in the league last season. Expect an incoming freshman and or a first year player to contribute significantly.
The defensive minded Mark Stoops is not going to stand still for the type of stats the defense put up last season, ala the toughest, most physical spring practice the veterans have ever experienced.
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