The Kentucky Wildcats face arguably their toughest road test of the season this weekend as they travel to College Station to face the ninth ranked Texas A&M Aggies. Texas A&M is coming off a 48-20 win over an Arizona State team led by former Wildcat quarterback Cutter Boley. The Aggies were in a fight with the Sun Devils, but two pick sixes from Boley and a muffed punt led to an easy 21 point swing. Kentucky's offense has to find some answers this weekend if they want to keep this game close against a stout defense from the Aggies and head coach Mike Elko.
Texas A&M has one of the top defenses in the country again, as they have allowed just four third down conversions on 22 third downs this season. Elko is an elite defensive mind and throws a ton
of looks at opposing offenses. It is critical that the Wildcats offense stays ahead of the chains and avoids 3rd and medium on Saturday. It is a tall task to consistently convert those situations against an Elko coached defense.
Kentucky's offense has not been efficient on third down this season, as they converted just 1-of-14 against Alabama. Even in week one against Youngstown State, the Wildcats converted only three times on eight third downs. This could be a big issue that arises against the Aggies if Kentucky does not turn things around in a hurry. Texas A&M will get aggressive and play man coverage in these scenarios, and Kentucky may not have the receivers to create separation against the Aggies defensive backs.
Texas A&M has a secondary that plays at a high level, though it may not be on the level they just saw with Alabama, this is still a solid group across the board. The safeties Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks form one of the more experienced and talented safety tandems in the conference. They have a veteran corner trio with Dezz Ricks, Julio Humphrey and Rickey Gibson that all have experience in the SEC. Slot corner Jordan Shaw has experience as well.
Through two weeks, Kentucky's wide receiver room is being led by true freshman Kenny Darby, which is concerning. Although Darby is exceeding expectations early, the preseason leaders of the room in Nic Anderson and DJ Miller have been non-existent. Anderson has just two catches for 17 yards through two weeks and Miller has yet to catch a pass. This is a worrisome matchup for the Wildcats as quarterback Kenny Minchey will be making his first road start after having a rough performance against Alabama.
I said it last week and will say it again, Kentucky has to lean on their tight end trio of Willie Rodriguez, Henry Boyer and Mikkel Skinner. Skinner had just eight snaps against the Crimson Tide and I truly feel like that was an issue for the offense. Skinner is a mismatch with his athleticism and catch radius, he can help get this passing game going. Kentucky's offensive staff has to recognize this by using more 12 and 13 personnel looks because the wide receiver room has had a lackluster start to the season outside of the true freshman Darby.
Another player to watch on the Aggies defense is edge rusher Anto Saka, who transferred from Northwestern. Saka has a quick get off and can be a real mismatch when going one-on-one with right tackle Malachi Wood. Wood was exposed by Alabama's pass rush and really struggled with the speed-to-power rush looks they gave him. Saka is a speed-to-power rusher and can use his quickness to make plays in the run game as well.
Arizona State out-gained the Aggies with 369 total yards to just 255 total yards. The Sun Devils had success in the passing game and averaged four yards per carry on the ground. The issue was the massive swings of momentum, as Arizona State turned the ball over four times and had nine penalties in their 28-point loss. Kentucky is coming off a sloppy performance, and it is paramount that they clean things up on the offensive side of the football or this one could get ugly.
The difference is the Sun Devils have playmakers at wide receiver. Omarion Miller is one of the best receivers in the country, but it was Reed Harris who really stepped up last week for Arizona State. Harris had nine catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns on the Aggies defense. Kentucky desperately needs their other receivers to step up in order to move the football in this game.
Kentucky has to establish the running game and be more efficient than they were in week two. The early down success is just as important as third downs because Kentucky has to put themselves in favorable down and distance to convert on these third downs. The interesting part is defensive coordinator Jay Bateman came from Texas A&M, so that could be an advantage for this offense since they have faced similar looks all offseason. However, this is a tough matchup for the Wildcats in their first road game of the season, but the offense needs to show signs of improvement in College Station.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky at Texas A&M Preview: Examining the Aggies defense
