Kentucky football is set to kickoff the Will Stein era on Saturday against the Youngstown State Penguins. We previewed the Penguins offense, led by their dynamic quarterback Beau Brungard. Now, let's take a look at the defensive side of the ball for Youngstown State and what to expect this Saturday at Kroger Field. Spoiler alert: I expect Kentucky to light up the scoreboard.
Youngstown State did not have a great defense last season, which lead them to a coordinator change on that side of the football. Against Mercyhurst in week zero, we saw the Penguins in a 3-4 base scheme and they stuck to a lot of one-high safety looks in coverage. A heavy dose of cover 3 and cover 1, with some man pressure looks as well. It will be interesting to see if they play
as much man coverage against Kentucky, that could lead to some big opportunities for the Wildcats wideouts.
They like to man up when offense get close to the red area, which could provide a mismatch against tight end Willie Rodriguez. Kentucky should have plenty of opportunities in the red zone against single coverage. This Youngstown State defense is not a strength of their team and they will be tested by Kentucky's talent on Saturday. I expect Kentucky to produce a strong offensive performance.
Not only will Kentucky have man coverage opportunities, but I think play action could play a huge role in creating explosive plays. There were multiple instances were the linebackers had dirty eyes and got lost in their run fits against Mercyhurst, leading to pass catchers running wide open behind them. Kentucky will certainly lean on their offensive line and CJ Baxter in the run game early. Once they lean on that they can really capitalize on the play action game.
There are not many playmakers on Youngstown State's defense, but they do return their sack leader from last season. Michael Wells had 10.5 sacks last season and is a 6'3, 250-pound on ball linebacker that plays that hybrid stand up edge defender role. Wells had 2.5 tackles for loss in the week zero game against Mercyhurst. However, it will be much harder for him to create havoc plays against Kentucky's tackles, Lance Heard and Malachi Wood.
Youngstown State will struggle defensively on Saturday, I foresee this being a dominant outing for Kentucky's offensive line that we have heard so much buzz about this offseason. It should be a dominant performance on the ground and Kenny Minchey should be kept clean in pass protection. Minchey has a chance to have a phenomenal performance with his young pass catchers. I fully expect Coach Stein to show off his offense to the big blue nation in his first game as head coach.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Previewing Kentucky's week one opponent Youngstown St: Defense
