Why Kentucky Wildcats could run into problems with the Ohio Bobcats

The problem with the day before a game after two losses is that I sit here worrying about how things could go wrong. It would be absolutely disastrous to start 1-3 and lose against the Ohio Bobcats. That shouldn't happen; my logical brain says that it will be a very decisive game in favor of the Wildcats. But I would like to share with you the three places I see as a problem for the Wildcats as they take on the Bobcats.

1. The Passing Game

I don't know how to sugarcoat this, but the offensive game plan has been bad. It literally hasn't been good or efficient in any game this season. Even in the only win against Southern Miss, it was lackluster, with only 31 points on 169 yards passing and 148 yards rushing. Sure, if they were playing an SEC opponent, that would be good to great, but it's underwhelming against Southern Miss.

Then Kentucky went to play South Carolina, and the offense was the biggest reason Kentucky lost. Starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff went 3/10 passing for 30 yards and an interception. Backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt didn't help when he came in, going 3/7 for 14 yards and an interception. Vandagriff was sacked enough that he even lost 29 yards on the ground. That means he had a 1-yard performance. Yikes!

I'd love to say that the near upset of the Georgia Bulldogs presented things in a better light, and it certainly did in the sense that there was nowhere to go but up from the Gamecocks game. However, we saw more of the same in an efficient, underperforming way. Vandagriff went 14/27 with 114 yards, only 4.2 yards per pass. He also was sacked four times and fumbled on one of those plays.

The passing game has to be better and I'm not convinced it's Vandagriff, though I need to see more tape to be conclusive but I wonder if the passing game plan is not very good. Tomorrow, we need to see a consistent and efficient passing attack. There's no reason why Kentucky's talent shouldn't carve up Ohio's secondary. I want to see drives sustained and the team getting into the end zone.

2. Lack of Touchdowns

I'm going through touchdown withdrawals. In the last two games, there have been precisely zero touchdowns scored by the Wildcats. The only one (that should have been upheld) was a defensive touchdown (that was ruled later to be incomplete) by Zion Childress. Mark Stoops seems completely fine to kick field goals, and it cost us the game against Georgia. Sure, you could argue that one more field goal was all we needed to win, but imagine if we turned one of those field goal drives into a touchdown drive; that final 4th and 8 punt would be irrelevant.

The last touchdown the Wildcats scored was a 5-yard pass from Vandagriff to Jordan Dingle in the 3rd quarter of the Southern Miss game. It has been nine quarters since we've found the endzone. What would make me smile is a sustained drive on the first offensive possession of the half that gets punched in for six.

3. Rushing Defense

Our rushing defense has been excellent. The Wildcats held Southern Miss to 5 yards rushing, South Carolina to 79 yards, and Georgia to 102. There hasn't been one RB that has rushed for over 100 yards in a game against Kentucky. This is good news, so where is the problem? We must do it again against a Bobcat team that loves to pound the rock. They average 203 yards on the ground per game. Of those 610 yards rushing on the season, 107 is from the QB, which means he isn't scared to take it and run, but most of it comes from their running backs. The most impressive one is Anthony Tyus III : who I named as a player to watch this week.