Statistically Speaking: Breaking down Kentucky’s numbers

Kentucky needed a fresh start.

Mark Stoops did an admirable job on the Bluegrass, but his time has come and gone. The Wildcat’s identity of a physical defense with an anemic offense built on the running game was no longer a winning formula. 

Enter Will Stein. After just a month of football, Stein has managed to infuse some badly needed life into the Kentucky program. The Wildcats have earned a pair of road wins and are ranked by the coaches. 

BOLD: TOP 25

BOLD IN ITALICS: BOTTOM 50

OFFENSE

Scoring Offense: 47^th, 34.6 ppg

Total Offense: 53^rd, 416.8 ypg

Yards per play: 47^th, 6.4 ypp

Rushing Offense: 42^nd, 187.2 ypg

Yards per carry: 35^th, 5.2 ypc

Rushing Attempts per game: 62^nd, 36.2 apg

Rushing Touchdowns: 41^st, 10

Passing Offense: 73^rd, 229.6 ypg

Passing Attempts: 79^th, 28.8 apg

Completion Percentage: 37^th, 67.4%

Passing Touchdowns: 31^st, 11

Interceptions Thrown: 9^th, 1

First Downs: 59^th, 21.4 per game

Third Down Conversions: 138^th, 24.5%

Fourth Down Conversion attempts: 31^st, 11

Red Zone Touchdown Percentage: 22^nd, 76.2%

20-plus yard plays: 33^rd, 26

10-plus yard runs: 46^th, 27

20-plus yard passes: 36^th, 19

Sacks Allowed: 100^th, 11

Tackles For Loss Allowed: 53^rd, 22

Time of Possession: 63^rd, 30:27 per game

The only remarkable stat among the lot here is the third down conversions. Kentucky is literally dead last in the nation in converting on third down. Aside from avoiding interceptions, the offense is near the middle of the pack in just about everything.

That makes it balanced, but it’s clearly not a well-oiled machine. The Wildcats scored 17 on Alabama and were shut out after halftime. The 31 points was a strong showing in College Station. They scored 35 at South Carolina last weekend, but eight of those came in overtime.

As far as the matchup with LSU goes, the Tigers are second nationally in sacks, so that could be a mismatch.

DEFENSE

Scoring Defense: 101^st, 26.8 ppg

Total Defense: 92^nd, 376.6 ypg

Yards per Play Allowed: 61^st, 5.2 ypp

Run Defense: 76^th, 144.2 ypg

Yards per Carry Allowed: 86^th, 4.2 ypc

Rushing Touchdowns Allowed: 105^th, 9

Passing Defense: 104^th, 232.4 ypg

Completion Percentage Allowed: 32^nd, 57.4%

Yards per Passing Attempt Allowed: 30^th, 6.1 ypa

Interceptions: 11^th, 6

Passing Touchdowns Allowed: 74^th, 7

Sacks: 58^th, 10

Tackles for Loss: 95^th, 22

Third Down Defense: 122^nd, 46%

Red Zone Touchdown Percentage Allowed: 121^st, 75%

20-plus yard plays allowed: 70^th, 19

10-plus yard runs allowed: 48^th, 17

20-plus yard passes allowed: 80^th, 15

Considering that South Carolina and Texas A&M are middling offenses, these statistics should be better than this. Sure, Alabama is an excellent offense, but that’s the only one these Wildcats have faced.

They’re giving up a lot of passing yards, rushing touchdowns and red zone scores while not creating negative plays. 

LSU’s offense has looked very good the last two weeks and should find success on Saturday. The one concern for Lane Kiffin would be the interceptions. The Wildcats have six, and no one in the country has thrown more than Sam Leavitt with seven.