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  • Wildcats Hanging Their Hats on Lighting up the Scoreboard

    By: LONNY DEMAREE



    As little as a decade ago the cliché was that we have to run the ball and stop the run. Presently with the constant hamstring of the defense with rules protecting the players there a much higher premium on scoring points.

    Anymore it’s almost impossible for the defensive guy to avoid head to head contact. Especially when running backs are taught to punish the defender and visa-versa.
    Last season the Cats scored at a clip of 25.5 points a game which was a drop from the previous year’s total of 30.0 points per game. The 2016‘s thirty points per was the best since 2010. So there are some locals that are say the Cats could have a better team and not win as many games as last year. The prognosticators on the SEC network that do what they do for a living see a much brighter picture for the Wildcats. Last year’s schedule in some local’s minds is the overriding factor as to how this season will be. With the offensive firepower this year as opposed to 2016 and factoring in the number of returnee’s, time could paint a much rosier picture In November. Only time will tell.

    This year’s addition has to eclipse the 2016 offensive numbers in order to reach the lofty goals set by the SEC prognosticators. From what we are reading into the statements coming from the offensive brain-trust the players are there to get it done. Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said the playbook is open meaning all the pieces are there to get it accomplished.

    Mark Stoops said Saturday they have the number of receivers they can roll in and roll out to be affective in the passing game.

    One very important aspect of the passing game will strongly encompass the running backs who Stoops said are catching the ball well. Benny Snell, A.J. Rose, Sihiem King, and one or both freshman running backs (Chris Rodriquez and Kavosiey Smoke) could figure heavily in the passing game.

    As previously alluded to running backs will be very important in the ability to improve the scoring potential. In the past one of the most effective tools in the tool box was the Wheel-route with the running backs or the tight end. Former running backs Rafael Little and Anthony White were very effective in that route.

    Stoops said throwing out of the backfield would be a tool that would be consistently used. One of the three drooped passes in Saturdays scrimmage was wheel route to Benny Snell. This is one play he wished he had back because the play would have gone for a forty-yard touchdown.

    It been said and reiterated on several occasions the King is effective in space. Given the new red-shirt rule in that a player can play in as many four games and still retain his red-shirt. This lends itself to the freshman running backs that can effectively infuse himself into the passing attack the soonest. “I have confidence in our back being good third down backs,” Stoops explained. “First and second down’s they’ve very efficient in check-downs and so on.” Gran when asked how big a role the running backs will be in the passing game? He said – “We are catching more ball out of the back field than we ever have. Hopefully when the lights come on we will find our check-downs. We’ve got shoot-routes (wheel-routes) built into the offense. Any time you get a mismatch with a running and a linebacker that’s what you are looking for.”
    Notes
    • Jordan Jones is back in practice and is full go Mark Stoops said. Stoops described Jones as slippery meaning he has that ability to get to the ball.

    • “I feel very good about the guys behind Benny (Snell),” Stoops said. He said the freshman as well.
    • Stoops said he wanted to get through today on the quarterbacks. His target is Monday but that may not happen then.

    • Stoops said he likes freshman offensive lineman Darian Kinnard a lot. He’s in the same position as Nassir Watkins was last year. But now they have the luxury of the new red-shirt rule. “We trust him and is learning very fast.”

    • Stoops said on Monday they will go through the two deep and other particulars.

    • The coach said he’s been pleased with the jump over the last ten days the quarterbacks have made. “You guys were out there and you saw some down field throws,” Stoops said, “you saw some throws in tight window’s, and some interceptions and that’s what we want.
    • Eddie Gran wanted the quarterbacks to throw into those tight windows so they won’t be afraid to take those shots. “I love that mentality by our head coach,” Gran elucidated.
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