Kentucky football started off the Will Stein era with a 45-13 win over Youngstown State
. We got a nice feel for what Coach Stein's offense will look like. Creative formations, pre snap shifts and motions, quick game concepts and multiple run schemes to create mismatches while driving the football down the field. The offense looked clean and crisp, which is something Kentucky football has not had in a long time.Kenny Minchey looked in command of the offense from the very opening drive of the season. All offseason, the coaching staff has praised Minchey for how quickly he picked up the scheme and that showed on Saturday. Minchey completed 18-of-27 pass attempts for 301 yards and four touchdowns. A plethora of weapons emerged as Minchey connected
with nine different targets on the day.
Kenny Darby is someone we highlighted this offseason, as he caught my eye in the Kentucky spring game. The true freshman from Louisiana made a couple of explosive catches as he was the starting slot receiver for the Wildcats. "If you are good enough, you are old enough" was what Coach Stein said after the spring when commenting on Darby's potential. Darby can build off this performance, as he was the teams leading receiver with 74 yards and a touchdown on just three receptions.
Nic Anderson had just one catch for four yards, and DJ Miller logged zero receptions on just two targets. Anderson and Miller were the preseason favorites to lead this wideout room, but it was the depth that showed up on Saturday. Another true freshman, Prince Jean, caught a swing screen pass in the red zone in for a touchdown. We also saw Lexington native and Louisville transfer Brock Coffman make an explosive 38-yard catch and run.
Coach Stein likes to lean on his playmakers, and the Wildcats tight end room might be the best position group on the team outside of the offensive line. Kentucky has three players they all have confidence in, the do-it-all tight end Willie Rodriguez has four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Mikkel Skinner is an athletic move tight end, and we saw him get creative touches like the perimeter screen on the first drive of the game. Skinner had four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown; Henry Boyer also got an explosive catch for a 31-yard gain.
CJ Baxter looked the part as RB1 for the Wildcats, rattling off 48 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries. The worry is keeping baxter healthy, so they wanted to give the depth some run and they showed up. Jason Patterson was the leading rusher with 78 yards on 11 carries. We also saw Martels Carter rush for 37 yards on five carries, making his running back debut after switching from safety in the spring.
The most crucial unit to starting the season 1-0 was the offensive line, and they passed the first test with flying colors. Right tackle Malachi Wood was out but is expected to return against Alabama for week two. Despite being down a starter, the offensive line kept Minchey clean all day as they did not allow a pressure, hit or sack in the game. In the run game, they put on a dominant performance opening holes for the running backs.
Coach Stein showed the exact reason he was hired to be the head coach, and that is an offense that operates at a high level. Kentucky had over 500 yards of total offense and it looked like an extremely clean operation. Kentucky scored on seven of nine drives when you exclude the two drives with kneel downs. The offense had a phenomenal debut with 8.3 yards per play and scoring touchdowns on four of the first five drives of the game.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Examining Kentucky's offense in week one victory
