2022 Kentucky Football Season By the Numbers

When reflecting upon the 2022 Kentucky football season, the numbers can illustrate the final product we saw on the field. In short, the Wildcats let an historically great defense go to waste because of a woeful red zone offense. I can’t spoil all the fun. Let’s dive into the good, the bad and the ugliest numbers from Mark Stoops’ 10th season at the University of Kentucky.

Good Numbers

6 — Kentucky’s overall defensive efficiency ranking according to SP+ (and it could rise once all of the games conclude). It’s the highest finish since the 2018 defense ranked 15th with Josh Allen earning consensus National Defensive Player of the Year honors.

170.8 — Passing yards allowed per game by the Kentucky defense is ranked second in the SEC and No. 7 nationally. The Wildcats also ranked 12th in total defense (311.4) and 11th in scoring defense (19.2 points per game).

7 — Win season for the Wildcats for the sixth time in seven years; the only exception was the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

66 — Wins by Mark Stoops are the most ever by a Kentucky head coach, surpassing Bear Bryant with a win at Florida. Two games into the 2016 season, his record was 12-26, but Stoops has gone 54-33 (.621) since.

3,643 — Career rushing yards for Chris Rodriguez, finishing third in school history, only 230 away from catching Benny Snell in first. A four-game suspension to start the season put him too far behind the 8-ball to climb all the way to the top of UK’s all-time rushing list. He still tallied 904 yards in only eight games. It’s impressive, yet he had a career-low 5.2 yards per carry.

20 — Career 100-yard rushing games by Chris Rodriguez is one record he did beat Benny Snell, surpassing his predecessor with 120 yards in the season finale against Louisville.

50 — Receptions by Barion Brown, the first UK freshman to ever reach that milestone. He had freshman-record 628 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

6 — Touchdown receptions by Dane Key is also a new freshman record. The Lexington native caught 37 passes for 519 yards.

59% — Of UK’s receiving yards came from true or redshirt freshman that are returning next year. Brown, Key, Jordan Dingle and Josh Kattus were four of the Wildcats’ top five receivers.

5,232 — Passing yards by Will Levis ranks sixth in Kentucky football history. He had a 17-7 record as the Wildcats’ starter, just a smidge better than Terry Wilson’s 17-8 mark.

65.7% — You may have question Levis’ accuracy, but he has the second-best completion percentage in school history, trailing only Tim Couch.

44.3 — Yards per punt by Colin Goodfellow ranks third in school history.

245 — Points by Matt Ruffolo ranks fifth in school history.

2 — Wildcats joined the 300-Tackle Club to end the season. Jacquez Jones had 301 tackles, with 119 over two seasons in Lexington, and DeAndre Square concluded his career with 303 as just the second Mark Stoops player to surpass that milestone.

Bad Numbers

16 — Takeaways forced by the Kentucky defense ranked near the bottom of the SEC and tied for 83rd among FBS teams. The Wildcats defended 54 passes but only caught 10 of them for interceptions. Forcing more turnovers will be a talking point this offseason.

20 — Sacks were the fewest in a full season by the Wildcats since 2015, before the start of the Cats’ seven-year postseason appearance streak. Kentucky ranked 104th nationally in sacks and 11th in the SEC. Only Trevin Wallace (2.5) and J.J. Weaver (3.0) had more than two sacks this season. For comparison’s sake, Josh Allen had 17.0 sacks in 2018. It wasn’t just the pass rush that sturggled to create havoc. Kentucky’s 54.0 tackles for loss ranked No. 118 in the FBS.

20.5% — The stuff rate for Kentucky’s offense line ranked No. 105 nationally. That means the Wildcats got no gain or tackled for loss once out of every five carries. What makes this number even worse? Tackle-breaker Chris Rodriguez was primarily toting the rock, yet even he could not stop from getting stuffed.

U-G-L-Y You ain’t got no alibi, you UGLY

46 — Sacks allowed were the most among Power Five football teams. Only the Colorado State and Akron allowed their QB to get hit more. The Kentucky offensive line also allowed 92 TFLs, ranking 112th in the FBS.

65.3 — Plays per game was among the worst in Power Five football. Only Iowa, Kansas, Texas A&M, Rutgers and 1-11 Colorado ran fewer plays than the slow-paced Kentucky offense. The operation was so slow and clunky, a minor mistake on a play-call nearly sidelined Will Levis against Mississippi State. He took a hard shot and injured his shoulder after incorrect terminology was used on a lengthy call.

34.1% — of the time Kentucky converted on third down, ranking 108th in FBS football. In 2021 the Wildcats ranked fifth, converting better than 50.6% of the time.

53.2% — of the time Kentucky scored touchdowns in the red zone, ranking 106th in FBS football. In 2021 the Wildcats ranked eighth, converting better than 85% of the time.