Monday Huddle, presented by Eckrich: Adversity Bowl

Kentucky and Missouri both had huge opportunities in Week 6. The Tigers and Wildcats each got off to hot 5-0 starts and had a chance to send a message last Saturday. Each left the week with a disappointing double-digit loss.

Eliah Drinkwitz and Mark Stoops both have their teams in position to have a strong season. However, both will be looking to not let one loss become two on Saturday night at Kroger Field. A huge swing game has arrived for both SEC East programs.

After a brutal loss in Athens, Kentucky will be looking to get off the mat against a team that is attempting to accomplish the same task. Which coaching staff can rally the troops quicker? We will find out soon.

KSR’s Monday Huddle is back to set the stage for another football week, but first, a message from our partners at Eckrich.

Eckrich is proud to present the $1 Million Challenge for Teachers! This 2023 college football season Eckrich, in partnership with Extra Yard for Teachers and Kroger, will invite a local teacher (and true hero) onto the field at the Kentucky vs. Alabama game on November 11^th. 

The selected teacher, randomly selected from a list of nominations, will have a chance to throw a football through a target to win up to $1 million dollars in donations to fund local classroom projects and resources in their school and community. Nominate a teacher here for a chance to throw! Make sure to nominate your teacher by October 26^th. 

First Down: Kentucky’s pass defense faces another big test

Georgia’s passing game entered last week’s contest against Kentucky with some good numbers. Those good numbers became great numbers against Kentucky’s secondary.

The pass rush was neutralized by Georgia’s offensive line, and redshirt junior quarterback Carson Beck went to work. Brad White‘s defense ended the game allowing 435 passing yards, and only forced nine incompletions in 42 throws. The Wildcats did not record a sack as UGA produced eight passing plays of 20-plus yards. Beck ended a career night with four touchdowns and a 71.4 percent passing success rate.

Kentucky’s pass defense was exposed against an offense that used a heavy amount of play-action fakes out of the shotgun. Outside receivers, tailbacks, and tight ends were all heavily involved in offensive coordinator Mike Bobo‘s game plan. It felt like Georgia could’ve thrown for 700 yards if they wanted to.

Now Kentucky must regroup quickly before facing a passing offense that has better numbers than Georgia’s.

Brady Cook enters Week 7 ranked inside the top 15 nationally in yards per attempt (9.9), No. 10 QB rating (175.74), passing touchdowns (13), and completion percentage (71.8%). The Tigers are scoring 33.2 points per game and rank No. 15 in yards per play (7.0). Cook is leading the way under new offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.

The redshirt junior quarterback has been efficient (50.8% passing success rate) with haymaker power (23.9% explosive pass play rate). Cook had not thrown an interception until last week and is on pace to throw for 3,726 yards and 26 touchdowns in the regular season. Mizzou is passing on 50 percent of its snaps and will look to challenge Kentucky vertically.

Former five-star recruit Luther Burden III (54 receptions, 793 yards, 5 touchdowns), Oklahoma transfer Theo Wease (28 receptions, 334 yards, 4 touchdowns), and former Ohio State transfer Mookie Cooper (20 receptions, 273 yards) are all having productive seasons. Burden is putting together an All-American season.

Only Vanderbilt did not hit a 65 percent completion rate against Kentucky. The Wildcats saw their typical big-play prevention all but disappeared at Sanford Stadium. If the defense produces another bad effort, the final result could be ugly against a spread passing attack that has produced at least 340 passing yards in four consecutive games.

Second Down: Kentucky’s passing offense gets a bounce-back opportunity

Through three SEC games, Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary is completing only 45.9 percent of his 24.7 throws per game. The NC State transfer has a woeful success rate (35.4%) and has twice as many interceptions/pass breakups (14) than explosive completions (seven). Leary is averaging under six yards per attempt against power conference opponents and looks like a quarterback playing with very little confidence.

The ineffectiveness has to be corrected, and it must be corrected quickly. Kentucky cannot continue to play like this on offense. The run game and defense will need some help to win football games in the second half of this schedule.

Saturday should be a get-right opportunity for the passing game.

Despite having two potential All-SEC cornerbacks and a ton of experience returning at safety, the pass defense has fallen apart for second-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker at Missouri. The Tigers rank No. 96 in passing success rate and No. 117 in passing EPA/play. Jayden Daniels threw for 259 yards on 21 attempts on Saturday afternoon at Faurot Field with six completions of 20-plus yards. The Tigers have allowed 14 passing touchdowns through six games and rank No. 102 in completion percentage (63.7%). This unit has some holes.

Saturday’s contest will feature two pass defenses that have some holes. Which offense will be able to take advantage? Kentucky cannot afford many more poor pass-game outings. The Wildcats desperately need Leary to snap out of this current three-game funk he is in. The veteran quarterback could use some help from his wide receivers who keep dropping passes.

Third Down: Handling adversity

We have seen Kentucky drop consecutive SEC games at least one time per season under Mark Stoops. In 2018 and 2021, losses came directly after falling to Georgia. One loss has found a way to become two losses at some point for this program yearly.

Stoops is looking to avoid that same fate in 2023. Immediately after the loss to Georgia on Saturday night, the Kentucky head coach admitted that his team did not handle adversity very well last season, and he will not allow that to happen two years in a row.

“I didn’t think I did a very good job of having the team handle adversity, and I knew it was gonna come,” Stoops said after the 51-13 loss to Georgia. “That doesn’t mean I believed we were gonna lose the game, but even in a game you’re gonna go through some adversity, some tough times, interceptions, momentum swings. You’re going to hit it and you have to respond the right way.”

“I will not tolerate us not responding. We’re going to respond. I have great respect for Missouri and we always have good games. We have to get back.”

Kentucky is not the only team dealing with adversity this week. Missouri blew a 22-7 lead to LSU at home getting outscored 42-17 in the final 36 minutes of the game. The Tigers lost the Middle 8 then went punt, touchdown, turnover on downs, interception, and missed field goal in five possessions in the fourth quarter. Eliah Drinkwitz’s team is also dealing with adversity after blowing a golden opportunity at home.

We have an Adversity Bowl scheduled for Saturday night. Whatever team handles their current situation the best during the week of preparation could have the upper hand at Kroger Field.

The week ahead at KSR

Another swing game for Kentucky football has arrived in Week 7. The Wildcats are 7-1 against Missouri since 2015 and have won four consecutive meetings at Kroger Field in this series. Before the bye week arrives, UK will look to continue this recent winning streak over the Tigers.

KSR will have full coverage of Mark Stoops’ press conference on Monday before taking a look at a depth chart that could have some changes. Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel so you can see the first Rapid Reaction of the season this afternoon. From there, practice reports and daily podcasts will take over as Saturday quickly approaches.

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Over at KSR+, we will have film notes up on the board, a full Week 6 recap on Wednesday, a lengthy scouting report on Mizzou on Thursday, and some against-the-spread picks on Friday.

The first Keeneland double-dip has arrived and that should create quite the atmosphere on Saturday night. Can Kentucky avoid the dreaded two-game losing streak?