Cats Illustrated publisher Justin Rowland asked UK fans on social media for their hot takes on the program after its 45-10 win against ULM in the season opener.
In this edition of Buy or Sell, he responds to many of the most bold takes...
I'll buy that the rushing game wasn't as impressive as we've seen it at times. Mark Stoops said they've got things they need to clean up at the line of scrimmage and during preseason preparation he seemed to insinuate that the ground game needed to get back on track, perhaps because of all the focus on the passing game.
Buy. That seems pretty likely. At least it wouldn't surprise me at all. They've talked about the number of touches they want to get for him, and since he's not going to be a running back I'm pretty sure that's the plan. He'll be getting more underneath stuff with Ali maybe more down the field.
Sell. But we heard the pick here first. If that happens Levis would be just about the talk of the SEC the next week. I just think Kentucky's going to be more intent on establishing the run to see if they don't even need to air it out much.
I have no clue how many yards he's going to get but I like the thinking because it seems like UK is really going to try to establish the run. Missouri's run defense does seem like it might be vulnerable to cutbacks. They were this past week, so Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou.com told me this week.
I'll sell but don't think it's an outlandish prediction. That defense went out and could really just take your heart. They had the National Player of the Year and three guys in the secondary who are now in the NFL. I'll have a better idea of what I think about the defense after this week.
This one really has me thinking. All due respect to Stephen Johnson, who was great as a winner at Kentucky, but something tells me that as beloved as he is this pick would rub some the wrong way. But when you think about it, just consider Andre Woodson's touchdown to interception ratio over his last two seasons at Kentucky. He had a 71-18 TD-INT ratio as a junior and senior. That's really hard to do in the SEC. So I could go with this on that point. But I just think the offense really has the potential to break out and become a problem for the East because of Levis and the upgrade he could prove to be.
I won't go 14, but I could see the potential for Mizzou to walk into a buzzsaw kind of like Mississippi State did in 2018. This game has been highly anticipated by both people in the program and its supporters for a very long time dating back to the game last year. I don't think you're far off from where I'd be.
Right on point. No wild prediction there, just a take. Very good way to think about it. I do think the ball looked really good coming out in the vertical game for Levis but he had a ton of time to throw, oftentimes, and those guys were usually wide open. Plenty of reason for optimism but we will know so much more after this weekend.
Buy. Weaver alone with two sacks on just 14 snaps changes the outlook in a huge way. Then you see the level of play from Josh Paschal and Jordan Wright, and even considering the competition it was a very good sign that those guys were so locked in.
Buy. Or at least what Kentucky does with Rodriguez. When he's really pounding away at a defense it will open up so much for this offense. We've actually never really seen that because that's how bad the passing game was, but it should be huge for that play action game Coen loves so much.
That's a great way to look at it and I hadn't really considered that. UK's defense really did lose a ton of talent and they sure seem to have more guys waiting in the wings. We'll see how they look against a better offense but in terms of the eye test it's impressive they looked as good as you did. Even against a bad team those stats look good.
The deep game really came together toward the end of one of those Stephen Johnson seasons but I think this has even more potential because Levis seems to really be elite in that category. Of course, the test becomes much tougher this week. Mizzou's defense compared to ULM's won't even be a comparison and he will probably also be facing a serious pass rush via the blitz.
That's a pretty spot on assessment from my view. I like the quarterback play and thought their defensive backs played as well as any other unit on the defense in that one game. But no, I don't think their lines should be able to hold up fully against Kentucky's on either side over four quarters. That has to be one of the most hopeful things about the game if you're a Kentucky fan.
That's a little premature for me. I understand the optimism and if Kentucky plays as well Saturday against a much different team then I might start to think more in terms of dark horse. I don't think Georgia can beat Alabama without getting much better on offense, but that UGA defense against Clemson was so good I think they have to be regarded as the major favorite in the East. They're going to shut down just about every team they face and while they have some guys out the offense is going to get a lot better. But I do think UK
That first catch by Dingle was really impressive. Kind of a small sample but it was a good sign. A lot of guys never make contested catches like that and it seemed to be instinct and natural for him. Agree on your overall point about depth. It's a program that is routinely led by veterans and we shouldn't sleep on guys who have been around for a year or two who haven't seen the field yet. The depth is much better.
Very much agreed. He's going to become even more important when Kentucky faces a team that can get home with the blitz or pressure more often. Robinson will become an important safety valve/dump-off when Levis has less time to throw. I like the underneath potential as a favorable down/distance creator.
That's a bit more aggressive than I'd go. But if that happens then we'll look back at Eli Drinkwitz's comments about his team not being ready for a game like this and realize he wasn't blowing smoke. I do think it's promising that Kentucky looked so good last week in spite of having that Week 1 sloppiness.
We shall see. I mean, two years running the defense has pretty much neutralized everything Georgia has tried to do. I've been of the mind that Kirby Smart has perhaps been a little more conservative than usual even for him in those games because the UGA defense so thoroughly handled Kentucky's offense.
Honestly, I don't think UK could have ever upset Smart's UGA playing the way they did. You're not going to beat UGA playing like that unless you're Alabama. You can't be that one-dimensional. This type of offense at least gives them more of a chance.
Buy. Not sure if the run/pass splits will be like in the past but if I were Liam Coen then priority No. 1 would be establishing the run. If Missouri can't stop the run (and they may not be able to - TBD) then there's no sense in showing off Levis' arm more than you have to. Leave less to chance.
I think it's too early to say that. He looked good on that last drive when he was in the game. No question, Levis has a bigger cannon but he's going to make most QBs look like they're throwing softer than they are. I do think he needs to continue to develop in the S&C program but I think Allen can be someone they feel good about. They'd tweak the offense based on someone's strengths so it might be more one thing than another depending on who is behind center.
Sounds like you just think Missouri is not very good and Kentucky is a legit top-20 type team. I think there's a chance Kentucky plays at a pretty high level on Saturday so it wouldn't shock me but I'll predict a much closer game given the line.
No disagreement there. Given how much a part of the offense those throws are that will always be the case as long as Coen is the OC and especially as long as Levis is the QB.
There's a part of me that does think it could be dangerous to get away from that physical identity. But I don't think they're going to. At the end of the day this is still Mark Stoops' program and he didn't hire Coen to get away from that physical identity. There will be an adjustment period for sure. It's not as though the line or backs were bad. They got their numbers. But they're not at their best yet.
I think coming into this year we knew the pass protection was going to be under the microscope. That's just not something they had to do much of in the past. I think because Horsey is regarded as a pretty athletic guard, because Fortner has played for so long, because Rosenthal is a great athlete and Kinnard is staying at right tackle, we've just assumed that it would come more naturally.
I do think they were pretty good in pass sets for most of the ULM game. There were just a couple of examples where it has to be cleaned up.
Buy. It's fair to say that the shorter and intermediate throws have to be more on target, especially considering most of those throws didn't come against a lot of pressure. A positive interpretation: It was his first game, and receivers' first game. But he still has to prove that the easy throws are going to be easy. Keeping the completion percentage at 65% instead of 55% affects the game in a lot of ways.
I think they'll get consistently solid play from the defensive front. In fact, I think the front 7 is going to have the advantage against just about every offense it will face this year save the games in the middle of the schedule. I'm not sure if it will be a dominating front seven, but as long as guys like Paschal and McCall stay healthy up front there are enough quality players that they'll stack up well. Especially if Jordan Wright keeps playing so well and JJ Weaver is in good shape.
Tim Couch would like a word!
Levis is going to have to get the ball out quicker, but that doesn't mean he did anything wrong in Week 1. He had the luxury of waiting for big plays and big throws that would be available to him. So I just don't think we know how he's going to fare at the quicker precision and timing throws yet.
I love the comparison and it's pretty much spot on in theory. Just waiting to see how the passing game looks against an SEC defense and we should know by late Saturday. But yes, this is exactly the part of the game that has held them back from being a real threat in the East.
Buy. That was the most impressive throw by Levis. It was also a very nice sliding catch for Bates. He's mostly been a blocker but he's not immobile at all and should get plenty of target opportunities this season.
Levis made that throw running full speed off his back foot and he placed it perfectly with ideal touch where only the receiver could make a play on it. That kind of big time scoring throw has been missing for so long.
If the turnover battle is even then you've got to give Kentucky the advantage. I don't think Mizzou is going to turn the ball over a whole lot as I think they'll try to execute a fairly conservative game plan once again. So if Kentucky shows good ball security, I think they're the more talented team with more standouts who can tip the game in their favor.
