After going to the Swamp and taking their lumps, Kentucky returns to Lexington to practice for a week before heading to Oxford to take on Ole Miss this Saturday. The Rebels started the season by losing to FCS (formerly known as Division I-AA) school Jacksonville State and followed that up with a win against Tulane before losing to Vanderbilt. This past week, Ole Miss managed to pull off a win against a decent Fresno State team and is looking to extend the streak against Kentucky. Here are five new names to know for this Saturday’s game.
#8 – Chris Matthews – WR – 6’5 / 219 – SR – Los Angeles, CA
One of the few bright spots from the Florida game had to be Matthews performance. It’s beginning to look like he’s going to need to be able to reproduce that type of game each week now as defenses focus on shutting down Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke. Standing 6’5 and weighing in at nearly 220 pounds, Matthews will have a seven inch height advantage over both of the Rebels’ starting cornerbacks and will be about 30 pounds heavier than both too. He has the type of size and athleticism that is terrifying to defensive coordinators and against Florida he showed he can make the tough, acrobatic catch against good coverage. If he can draw some of the defense’s attention, it opens things up for Locke and Cobb to have big games as well.
#67 – Larry Warford – OG – 6’3 / 329 – SO – Richmond, KY
If Kentucky is going to have any success in the running game, moving Ole Miss defensive tackle Jerrell Powell out of the middle will be a key. The 6’2 320 pound senior is a behemoth of an anchor and Kentucky’s massive sophomore guard could be just the guy to get the job done. Warford has the natural strength necessary to be a force on the offensive line, but to be effective this week, he’ll have to prepare for the powerful bull rush of Powell. If he can open running lanes for Locke and keep the defense from getting pressure from the middle of the offensive line, the Kentucky offense shouldn’t have much trouble moving the ball against the rebel defense.
#24 Randall Burden – CB – 6’0 / 175 – JR – LaGrange, GA
Most Kentucky fans probably couldn’t tell you who Markeith Summers is. To those of you who don’t know, he’s the 6’3 senior wide receiver from the Memphis suburbs that has managed to average 23.5 yards per catch this season including a 165 yard game against Tulane. Randall has been matched up against the opposition’s best receiver in the previous games and he’ll likely be assigned to Summers this week. He’ll have to use his athleticism to combat the three inch height advantage that his opponent will have to contain the experienced veteran. What Burden really has going for him though, is that he’s been able to lock down more talented guys this year and he can draw upon that confidence to contain Summers. This should be one of the key match ups to watch.
#41 – Mychal Bailey – FS – 6’0 / 185 – JR – LaGrange, GA
Two junior defensive backs will be key this week as Mychal Bailey joins his former teammate on the list. Bailey will be one of the key defenders against the Ole Miss spread and will be one of the players responsible for keeping an eye on QB Jeremiah Masoli when the Rebels have the ball. Kentucky hasn’t been able to contain scrambling quarterbacks in the past and a large part of the ineffectiveness is due to poor tackling in the secondary. Bailey has the closing speed necessary to limit big plays on the ground and stop Masoli from breaking long gains to sustain drives.
#93 – Craig McIntosh – K – 6’0 / 199 – SO – Lexington, KY
This is the second time I’ve had a kicker on this list and for good reason. Through four games this season, the Wildcats kicking units have gone an awful 3-7 on field goals and an unacceptable 18-20 on PATs. To McIntosh’s credit, he’s kicked 2-4 this year with one miss being blocked against Florida and the other a 51 yard attempt that was probably a little out of his range after taking over for a struggling Tydlacka after the Western Kentucky game. Regardless, the kicking game is so important that the sport is named after it. You have to be able to hit field goals and PATs to get
the easy points and hopefully McIntosh can be the guy to get them.
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