Monday Huddle: Kentucky looks to make history after first camp scrimmage

On3 imageby:Adam Luckett08/15/22

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Well, that all escalated quickly. After a quiet first week of fall camp, we saw all hell break loose on Thursday, and we reached “our pets’ heads are falling off” levels in the Big Blue Nation.

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops adamantly defended his program on social media on Thursday and then backed up those comments at his press conference on Saturday. We had quite the wild week in the Bluegrass but there was also some actual football stuff that happened.

We’ll have all week to react to John Calipari vs. Mark Stoops with a twist of Mitch Barnhart as the cherry on this war of words sundae, but for now, it’s time to take a look at the football team. Week three of fall camp has arrived with an integral scrimmage No. 2 on the horizon for Saturday.

KSR’s Monday Huddle is here to set the table for what could be another busy week in the Bluegrass.

First Down: AP Top 25 release

On Monday at noon, the preseason AP Top 25 will be released. The preseason poll has been running since 1936 and has been a staple in college football for a very long time. This ranking no longer crowns a national champion, but still is an important part of the sport’s past and present.

Kentucky could make some history this year.

The Wildcats have not been included in the preseason Top 25 since 1978 when UK started the season at No. 15 before finishing the year 4-6-1 under Fran Curci. Before that, you have to go back to 1957 with head coach Blanton Collier, but the Wildcats finished that year at 3-7.

The program has not started a season ranked and finished ranked since Bear Bryant took Kentucky to the Cotton Bowl in 1951. The head coach left Lexington just a couple of seasons later after an alleged feud with Adolph Rupp.

We enter the 2022 season and Mark Stoops has a team that could start the season ranked and finish it ranked if all goes according to plan. Unfortunately, there is another coaching feud in Lexington seven decades later. I guess history does repeat itself.

Second Down: Class of 2022 might have the goods

Throughout the last recruiting cycle, Kentucky’s class of 2022 received a ton of praise. On signing day, Kentucky inked a pair of top-100 recruits for the first time in the modern era to go along with seven top-300 prospects and 12 top-500 prospects. That worked allowed Kentucky to ink the No. 15 class as the coaching staff reeled in a top-five recruiting class in the SEC.

The fruits of that labor have been showing up consistently at fall camp.

Before practice even started, Dane Key earned a starting job at wide receiver out of spring camp. Alex Afari was one of the first players mentioned by Stoops as a potential early contributor. There continues to be a lot of buzz about wideout Barion Brown. Josh Kattus has surprised many folks, and the freshman tight end could be a surprise contributor this fall.

Perhaps the biggest news occurred on Saturday with Deone Walker. The freshman defensive line prospect is being used at multiple spots along the defensive line and is getting real reps with the ones. The Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech product could be a day one starter. The rookie has excited many.

“I want to have length,” Stoops said about Walker. “To have a d-lineman with that kind of length and then be loose enough and sudden enough to get pressure on the quarterback from the inside position. He’s very good.”

Kentucky could have as many as three rookie starters from this class and that’s not even counting offensive tackle Kiyaunta Goodwin who was the highest-ranked prospect in the class. The program seems to have hit a home run with the class of 2022, and we won’t have to wait long to see that group make some plays on the field.

Third Down: Offensive line is dealing with injuries

There is a real buzz about the defense in fall camp. Brad White’s unit keeps doing some good stuff, and if this group comes together it could give Kentucky its first top-25 defense since 2018. That would be a pleasant development, but we were all banking on the offense leveling up in 2022.

Unfortunately, offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello’s unit is dealing with the injury bug.

On the offensive line, the Cats have been limited. Expected starters Tashawn Manning and Jeremy Flax did not participate in the scrimmage on Saturday. Some other important players may have also missed some time. New offensive line coach Zach Yenser had many moving parts to get ready for this season, and now this group is being slowed by injuries.

Due to this, the ground game seems to be behind at the moment as the defensive line has had the upper hand throughout fall camp. Kentucky desperately needs that group to get healthy and back working together so the offense can establish its identity.

“It’s hard to get complete live reps like we do today,” Stoops said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “So they’re very valuable and we gotta continue to do that. I think, in general, we do need to get back to being who we are and that’s a physical football team.”

It’s hard to be physical when your starters are on the sidelines. Kentucky needs to get healthy on offense as establishing the run is what is going to open up everything for this offense. Getting the ones back on the Big Blue Wall would be a good start.

The week ahead at KSR

With the preseason basketball wrapping up on Sunday, we are 100 percent in football mode. Kentucky will kick off the season in less than three weeks, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

The final week of fall camp before game prep begins figures to be a very significant one for the offense. Throughout camp, there have been some growing pains for this unit as Scangarello installs a new scheme in Lexington. Add in some important offensive line absences and this is a group that still has some things to figure out. We all need to pay close attention to the offense this week as this group needs a good week of practice followed by a good scrimmage on Saturday.

We’ll get some intel on Tuesday when Scangarello meets with the media. Brad White will then field questions on Thursday. It all gets wrapped up with Stoops on Saturday. KSR will be there every step of the way.

We’ll also have podcasts this week along with some more video content on our YouTube channel to go along with practice reports. There could also be a recruiting decision or two that comes down the chimney this week. We’ve almost made it.

Football is coming.

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2024-03-28