Kentucky players to watch against Ole Miss

The first big moment of the Kentucky football season has arrived in Week 2. On Saturday afternoon at Kroger Field, Ole Miss will roll into town for this revenge spot game. For the first time during the 2025 season, we will see Mark Stoops‘ rebuild put on full display.

Kentucky seems match up well with Ole Miss. The betting spread surprisingly keeps dropping towards the home underdog. This feels like a big moment for the Wildcats, and a chance to create some real positive momentum for the first time in early a whole calendar year.

For UK to end this long SEC home losing streak, certain individuals will need to rise up to the challenge and play well. These are the players to monitor closely in this huge conference clash.

Getting Kendrick Law involved

Alabama transfer Kendrick Law was arguably Kentucky’s best transfer portal recruiting win at the position in the offseason. The former top-100 recruit was a rotational player for three seasons in Tuscaloosa playing for both Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer. The Wildcats were going to provide a bigger opportunity for the senior with one season of eligibility remaining.

But we did not see a high usage rate in Week 1.

In his Kentucky debut, Law played 40 snaps but did not have one touch. The SEC transfer drew a pass interference call in the endzone and had another target on a deep pass but was mostly a non-factor outside of blocking. This came just a few weeks after offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said that Law would be a focal point of the offense.

Kentucky’s passing game must play better than Week 1. Zach Calzada is facing a lot of heat but it starts with getting the best players the football. UK must get Law involved.

Kentucky pursued David Gusta for these games

Washington State transfer David Gusta was one of the top defensive tackle transfers to enter the portal this offseason. Kentucky made a big push and ultimately landed the high-profile transfer over Tennessee and Texas A&M. Gusta was added for these games.

Battles in the SEC are won at the line of scrimmage. Most importantly, the defensive lines typically make the biggest different on each Saturday. Heading into this contest, the biggest weakness for Ole Miss on paper is the interior offensive line. Kentucky landed Gusta to win matchups like this one.

The redshirt senior had a solid debut performance when he recorded one tackle and one pressure in 40 snaps. Now UK needs him to make an impact in a big spot. Expect to see Kentucky move Gusta around on passing downs but they also need the veteran to be stout against the run.

This is a good matchup for Kentucky’s interior defensive line. The Cats need their best player in the group to show up and make an impact on this game.

Expect Alex Wollschlaeger to be challenged

Bowling Green transfer Alex Wollschaeger came to Kentucky with three years of starting experience at right tackle and over 2,300 career snaps. The Cats added the veteran to be a plug-and-play starter at right tackle. UK is all-in on Wollschalaeger.

In his first start at Kentucky, the veteran did a great job sealing off on Dante Dowdell’s 79-yard touchdown run and ultimately had a positive performance but there were some leaky moments in pass protection.

A lot of talk about some of the Zach Calzada misses but I want to focus on this throw. Nearly 60 air yards under pressure and the receiver gets his hands on the football. Have to take your swings. This caliber of throw will produce completions. pic.twitter.com/JEdTJJPRjF

— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) September 2, 2025

Wollschlaeger allowed three pressures in 28 pass block snaps, according to PFF data. Two of those led to hits on Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada. Pass protection was a big question for Wollschaleger as he moved up to the SEC. This phase of his game will be challenged by the Rebels.

Expect Ole Miss to align some of their best rushers (Suntarine Perkins, Da’Shawn Womack, Princewill Umanmielen) against Wollschlaeger in isolation. In Week 2 last season, Kentucky’s entire offensive plan was blown up because UK could not protect on the edge. UK needs their new right tackle to hold up in the first big spot of the season against some talented rushers.

Kentucky needs another big game from the cornerbacks

Going back to last year, Kentucky entered the Ole Miss matchup without star cornerback Maxwell Hairston. Without one of the top cornerbacks in college football, the matchup with the explosive Ole Miss passing attack seemed like a very difficult one. But somehow UK mostly won that matchup.

JQ Hardaway had arguably the best game of his career (11 tackles, forced fumble) while DJ Waller Jr. and Terhyon Nichols may have played the best game of their first season with Kentucky. Ole Miss challenged the cornerbacks constantly but Kentucky won most of the battles. That needs to repeat itself.

The run game starts everything but finding explosives in the passing game is what this unit is looking for. They will take swings. Kentucky will find itself in one-on-one battles on the outside. Kentucky needs their corners to hold up and win many more than they lose just like last year.

Maryland transfer Kevis Thomas could become a notable factor in this game with Waller listed as doubtful in the latest availability report update. Expect Ole Miss to attack whoever is in the game opposite of Hardaway.