Kentucky Offense Not Overreacting to Tennessee Performance

The Kentucky offense is taking a familiar approach to practice this week. It’s never as good as it seems, nor is it ever as bad as it seems. The Wildcats laid an egg in Knoxville, but they cannot completely scrap the playbook after one poor performance against the top-ranked team in the country.

“You never can overreact to these situations,” said offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. “I think we had very high expectations this year for our team. You go into a game like that and you build it up. It goes completely the way you don’t want it. You put your worst out there, not your best and when that happens you feel like the world is falling in sometimes. But it isn’t, it’s one game. You have to always keep that in perspective.”

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

What Works Once Doesn’t Always Work

You do not have to look long to find ways to critique the Kentucky offense through eight games under Rich Scangarello. The Kentucky offense has scored on its first possession only twice this fall — each game resulted in a win — compared to seven times in 2021. After allowing Tennessee to score a touchdown, the Kentucky offense responded with a quick three-and-out.

“Full disclosure, we knew they would be geeked up, we knew they would be out there to attack the run,” said Rich Scangarello. “We were going in with the mindset that we were going to run the ball and have some physicality in the game. We knew what that first play might look like — some collisions in there and be a violent play.”

The Kentucky offensive coordinator wanted to help his players shake off the jitters. They got stuffed on two runs, followed by an incompletion on third down. However, the Cats did rebound with scripted played on drive No. 2, effectively moving the ball down the field to set up a touchdown. Some believe the offense is too complex to be effective, but there’s evidence that it has worked, just not on a consistent basis.

“We had a swing screen that we had planned that we executed to JuTahn (McClain) perfectly for about 15 yards. We ran that same play in the second half, missed a block and it was -2. That’s football. We gotta learn from it and we can’t make those kind of errors,” said Scangarello. He added at another point in the press conference:

“We got the makeup and the players and the integrity to run the offense. I’ve seen it be sharp. The same plays we’re running and throwing for 350 (yards) early in the year that were successful against Florida, the same types of plays, it’s just about execution.”

Kentucky Offense Sees Silver Lining

The Wildcats’ weekly Monday team meeting began with a look at the SEC standings. While it feels like the sky is falling, Mark Stoops wanted his players to know they’re still in the thick of it.

“We’re still in the upper echelon and we’ve given a game away. We can be better and we have to be tighter, but it’s how you finish. It’s what you are at the end, not now,” said Scangarello. “We have to continue to grow and get better and I think we will. We have the right people in that room and I think we have the right makeup in this building to get that done, no problem.”

Kenneth Horsey has experienced more losing streaks than he would like to admit throughout his career. It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to it.

“You have to be ready to put it behind you, win or loss, and get ready for the next opponent because at the end of the day, we know in our league records rarely matter. It’s always a tight ballgame, it’s always tough-sledding in the trenches. Those same things will always apply,” said Horsey.

“As a team we need to understand that we need to get back up off the pavement. We got knocked down last week. We have to get up, shake it off and get ready to hit somebody else in the mouth.”

Kentucky will travel to Missouri Saturday at noon on the SEC Network.