The occasion of the end of a season allows for plenty of reflection.
We'll get to superlatives, snap counts, surprises, and more in time but today let's revisit preseason predictions.
These are only one person's, but my "Ten Bold Predictions" from before the season is a good starting point and they probably weren't too far removed from what most people who followed Kentucky might have expected.
Here were those ten predictions along with the basic explanation.
"Kentucky will have the most improved passing game in college football."
For several seasons before 2021 the Wildcats had become one of the most one-dimensional teams in college football.
2020 Passing Stats: 111.24 passer rating; 1,336 yards; 7 TD, 5 INT
2021 Passing Stats: 147.65; 2,919 yards; 24 TD, 13 INT
If you go by yardage, Kentucky did not have the most improved passing game in the country. That's due to the video game stats put up by players like WKU's Bailey Zappe (426 YPG) and UVA's Brennan Armstrong (404 YPG).
The same goes for passer rating. But while Kentucky was not the "most" improved passing game in college football it was certainly still one of the most improved passing attacks.
Kentucky doubled its passing yardage from 2020 to 2021, more than tripled its passing touchdowns, and posted by far its highest passer rating of the Mark Stoops era.
Verdict: Wrong but very close.
"Will Levis will be a top half of the SEC quarterback."
Levis was 5th in the SEC in passing yardage, 6th in completion percentage, 6th in yards per pass attempt, 5th in passing touchdowns, and 6th in passer rating.
In all of those major passing categories Levis was a top half of the SEC quarterback. He did tie for the SEC lead in interceptions with Florida's Emory Jones. But several of those picks were not entirely Levis' fault.
He did have a really nice rushing attack to lean on. He did have Wan'Dale Robinson. But most top half of the SEC quarterbacks are working with good personnel, and in the case of the others even better personnel than Kentucky had.
Factor in Levis' running ability and his toughness and this prediction panned out.
Verdict: True.
"Fans will love how Kentucky's tight ends are featured."
It's impossible to know how every fan feels but a fan would be justified in feeling pleased with how the tight ends fared in the first year of Liam Coen's offense.
Kentucky had a deep and effective tight ends room and it helped in the run and pass game. Even with Keaten Upshaw going out for the season Vince Marrow's room thrived with Justin Rigg, Brenden Bates, and Izayah Cummings, the latter moving to receiver after the Upshaw injury.
Justin Rigg had 20 catches for 189 yards, and four touchdowns. Izayah Cummings had 14 catches for 195 yards and three scores. Brenden Bates, 11 for 70 and a score.
Put together that comes to 45 catches, around 450 yards and eight touchdowns. That's a significant contribution from a unit that had not posted those numbers in recent years.
Verdict: Probably true.
"The 'Cats will have 6-8 players drafted in 2022."
This will have to be revisited because the draft is months away. But we do probably have a better idea of how this might play out now than before the season because we've watched another full season.
Darian Kinnard, Josh Paschal, and Yusuf Corker seem like safe bets to be drafted off the defense. Most expect Wan'Dale Robinson to leave for the NFL and he would certainly be drafted. Luke Fortner had an excellent year at center, Marquan McCall played at a high level for much of the season, and Chris Rodriguez could be an intriguing running back to some teams.
It's not impossible that Kentucky could get to the 6-8 range but buy the low end or just less than that for the time being.
Verdict: TBD
"Final regular season prediction for UK: 9-3."
Originally I picked 7-5 for this team in a "way too early" prediction take. As the season drew closer I revised that to 9-3.
The reason for that was an increasing sense that the offense would be really good. When I became more confident that Levis held the potential to take the offense to another level and started to think about the cast around him - the running game, the line, etc - it just seemed like they could fare really well, especially against that schedule.
Kentucky did go 9-3 in the regular season for the second time in four years.
Verdict: On the money.
"Kentucky will defeat LSU."
This prediction was less about some feeling about the matchup or where the game fell on the schedule and more about not believing in Ed Orgeron. I've felt for a while he was basically Larry Coker from Miami all those years ago; inheriting a great situation, winning early, and then getting hit by the reality of just not being a very good coach.
Kentucky wiped LSU out 42-21. It wasn't the best game that LSU played. The Tigers were very competitive (20-14 L) with Alabama and played better in other games. UK caught the the Tigers hemorrhaging and LSU ran into a buzzsaw. Levis played well, UK ran all over them, and it was a well-oiled machine against a team that didn't know what hit them.
Verdict: Correct.
"DeAndre Square will lead Kentucky in tackles."
Square was a freshman contributor for Kentucky and never looked back. He was third on the team in tackles last year behind only Jamin Davis and Yusuf Corker.
The thinking behind my prediction on Square leading the team in tackles was that the defensive line would be good enough to free him to clean up a lot of the plays at the line of scrimmage.
Ole Miss linebacker transfer Jacquez Jones led Kentucky with 85 tackles, Corker was second with 81, and Square third with 80. Jones also only played in 12 games while the others played in one more.
Verdict: Close but not quite.
"Trevin Wallace will be a freshman All-American."
This prediction was made on the basis of Wallace's talent, what we had heard about his work ethic and football IQ, and Kentucky's eagerness to get him on the field. Ever since Wallace was a recruit up through when he signed with the program it was clear that UK's coaches have been absolutely in love with Wallace's potential.
Even with Jones transferring in from Ole Miss to lead the team in tackles, Wallace's playing time was steady and impressive over the course of the season. He returned a blocked field goal for a pivotal touchdown against Florida and was one the field for some of the team's most important snaps of the season.
Wallace was named a preseason freshman All-American so I wasn't out here on a limb alone in making this pick. But I did tell someone before Wallace even signed that a good track for him would be Freshman All American (2021), All-SEC (2022), All-American (2023).
These next two accomplishments will be much tougher because they're more about performance while freshman
Verdict: Spot on.
"The Missouri game will not define UK's season."
The point I was making here is that even if Kentucky lost to Missouri this year the season wouldn't be over. Before the season we tend to pinpoint the most critical "must win" games. We imagine W/L scenarios and make everything more inflexible than it really turns out to be. Kentucky's 2018 team laid an egg at Tennessee on the road against a bad team but if that's all you knew about them then you wouldn't have a clue about what they did or how the season went.
Verdict: True, even though they won.
"The transfer portal will help Kentucky again next offseason."
Kentucky has two transfer commitments, one from Auburn offensive guard Tashawn Manning and another from Virginia Tech receiver transfer Tayvion Robinson.
That's a great start.
Kentucky also had a commitment from one of Syracuse's all-time leading receivers in Taj Harris but there was a parting of ways there.
What seems clear is Kentucky's positioned well to attack the portal again. Featuring skill players and overhauling the offense so effectively is going to help them again.
Kentucky could still add help on the offensive line, at receiver, on the defensive line, at linebacker, or in the secondary. Initially Cats Illustrated sources indicated that UK could take upwards of six players from the portal this cycle. If that happens there are four more to go.
It should be easier to build from the portal with one- or two-year rentals when NIL is going so well for Kentucky athletes and also because the Wildcats could be an interesting team again next year.
Verdict: TBD but a good start.
