BY THE NUMBERS: Previewing Kentucky vs. Auburn

In our regular pregame feature, Cats Illustrated takes a look at some of the intriguing numbers behind Saturday’s matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn Tigers…

1st – Trip to Auburn, Ala., for the Wildcats since the 2020 season. Kentucky lost 29-13 in that game, which was the SEC opener in the pandemic-influenced 10-game SEC season.

1-14 – Record for Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops in his last 15 SEC games.

2 – Wins by Kentucky at Auburn in the history of the series. The Wildcats last won on The Plains in the 2009 season. The other win came in 1961. The Tigers lead the all-time series 28-6-1, including 19 wins in the last 20.

2-11 – Auburn’s record under head coach Hugh Freeze when trailing at the half.

5 – Career interception returns for touchdowns by Tigers defensive back Rayshawn Pleasant.

6 – Field goals last week in a win over Arkansas for Auburn kicker Alex McPherson, who was SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. He tied the school record, which was also shared by Al Del Greco with six versus Kentucky in 1982.

6-15 – Auburn’s record in SEC play under Freeze.

8 – Different Wildcats caught at least one pass in last week’s game against Tennessee, led by seven receptions for running back Jason Patterson.

13/4.0/2.0 – Tackles, TFLs, and sacks for Auburn linebacker Xavier Atkins last week in a win over Arkansas. He was named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week.

21st – Auburn’s national rank in scoring defense (18.6 ppg). The Tigers are one of four FBS teams, including Indiana, Miami, and Ohio State, that have not allowed more than 24 points in a game. Seven of their eight opponents have scored 10 points or more under their season average.

51 – First downs recorded the last two weeks combined by Kentucky compared to 33 for the opponent. Both games, however, resulted in losses for the Cats.

57 – Career games played by UK left guard Josh Braun.

77% – Completion rate for UK quarterback Cutter Boley in his last two games against Texas and Tennessee. The redshirt freshman has completed 57 of his last 74 attempts. He is fifth in the SEC and 34th nationally in completion percentage.

84.1 – Rushing yards per game allowed by the Tigers, which ranks fifth nationally. It’s the second top-five rushing defense (Texas) that UK has faced this season.

107th – Auburn’s national rank in total offense, gaining just 340.6 yards per game. The Tigers will be facing a Kentucky defense ranked 89th nationally at 384.0 yards per game surrendered.

.315/.316 – Kentucky’s all-time winning percentage in SEC games and Mark Stoops’ all-time winning percentage in SEC games.