Kentucky football is hosting a top ten ranked LSU Tigers football team on Saturday under the lights at Kroger Field. Kentucky is coming off the largest road comeback in program history against South Carolina, and will be bringing back the Power K uniforms for the first time since 1997. The energy is at an all time high in the bluegrass and Will Stein is showing why he was hired, as quarterback Kenny Minchey is hitting his stride and the offense continues to grow. Can the Wildcats offense play in a shootout against a Lane Kiffin offense is the biggest question heading into this game.
Kiffin has been around the SEC for a long time, and he has always had a dangerous offense. That is no different this season, as the Tigers rank 5th in the SEC in EPA/play
and they have shown the ability to put up points. There have been some struggles, however, as this offense still has plenty of room to improve. They will not be at full strength, star tight end Trey'Dez Green suffered a lower body injury at Ole Miss and is not slated to return in this matchup.
Kiffin's offense still utilizes tempo, but it does look a bit different from his offenses at Ole Miss. At Ole Miss, Kiffin's offense utilized a ton of run-pass-option (RPO) plays, but this season the Tigers have a 14% RPO rate that ranks 15th in the SEC. They are doing a lot more traditional runs and standard drop backs in the passing game. They rank 9th in play action rate in the SEC.
Regardless, Kiffin's offense always finds ways to create explosive plays. Ironically, one of the bright spots of Kentucky's defense has been limiting explosive plays this season. That is a true matchup to watch when LSU has the football, the Wildcats can not allow LSU to get the explosive plays going. The Tigers have the most explosive plays in SEC through five weeks of play.
Sam Leavitt is someone Will Stein entertained to be his quarterback in his first year as head coach, Leavitt visited Lexington during the transfer portal window. Leavitt leads the SEC in interceptions, and that is a cause for concern as the Kentucky defense ranks 2nd in the conference in turnover forced percentage. Leavitt will be making just his third road start in the SEC, he faced Ole Miss in week three and had to go to Mississippi State last season as the quarterback for Arizona State. Leavitt has really struggled in road SEC environments, as he has completed just over 50% of his passes for 240 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in those two games.
Leavitt has been dealing with a hamstring injury the last couple of weeks, and seeing how willing LSU will be to run him could be the difference in this football game. Leavitt averaged 13 rush attempts per game over the first three weeks, but he has just five total rushing attempts in the last two games. Leavitt is not as dangerous as South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, but he is similar to Sellers in the sense of he runs with physicality and is extremely difficult to bring down. This is an area that Kentucky's defense has struggled in the season, but they have faced multiple dual threat quarterbacks so it will once again be a point of emphasis.
Kentucky's defensive front has consistently got pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but they have struggled converting those pressures into sacks. It really stood out against South Carolina as they could not bring down Sellers in the pocket. Leavitt is a more talent runner than former Wildcat quarterback Will Levis, but they have a similar running style. Leavitt is an extremely physical runner that shows no regard for his health when he takes off.
LSU is going to find ways to score points on Saturday, it is a Lane Kiffin coached team so you can almost guarantee that. Kentucky has to do a better job of converting pressures into sacks and keeping contain when Leavitt tries to scramble. The true key for Kentucky's defense is to keep doing what they have done all year, make the quarterback uncomfortable and continue to force turnovers. This could be the best atmosphere in Kroger Field history with the momentum the Wildcats have and it being the first night game of the season, this will play a factor in this matchup.
Stats from secstatcat.com
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: LSU offense preview: Kentucky must continue to create turnovers
