How can the Cats meet defensive challenges in the SEC

By: LONNY DEMAREE

The votes are in since the conclusion of the SEC Media Days meetings and in a much wider margin the so-called outsiders show more respect for the Cats than the ones more closely to the UK football team. If just Kentuckians were polled as to how they think the Cats will finish in Eastern Conference of the SEC much more cynicism would be shown. The media at the SEC Meetings picked the Wildcats to finish 4th on the SEC East.

The challenge as per usual will be huge but doable. In analyzing the three pre-season All-SEC teams numbering 33 defensive players the Cats will face twenty of those players. The bad news and the good news is that the Cats will face twenty of those players. The bad news is of those players that six reside on the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. The good news is that UK is rid of them in one swoop and they rest of the good news is how much does it matter because Alabama will be a heavy favorites on their home field?

The rest of the picture is that within the teams picked below the Cats only one of those defenders are picked. Defensive lineman Charles Harris is a Missouri Tiger. The Cats have to defeat the three teams picked to finish below them which is doable. Kentucky averaged 4.7 yard per carry and their opponents averaged 4.6 yards per carry. The difference came in the fact the opposition had nearly 100 more carry's over the season.

There were eight games in which the Cats were out rushed in the running game and four games in which they were out passed. The huge drawback in the passing game we that UK was intercepted 16-times as opposed to eleven touchdown passes. That is not winning football against anybody.

For the Cats to realized it's potential wins they are projected to be favorite in eight of those games The defense has to step up in a much bigger way than in the past few years. Primarily the because the number of plays have to drastically increase.