Kentucky won't be kicking the proverbial can down the road when it comes to addressing the issues plaguing its pass defense.
There's no time to do so.
After getting torched by an opposing quarterback for the second straight week to open the season, the 0-2 Wildcats must now brace for Mississippi State's version of the "Air Raid" offense as former UK assistant coach Mike Leach makes his return to Lexington on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were perhaps the biggest story in college football in Week 1 of the season after recording 623 yards and five touchdowns through the air in a 44-34 upset of defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge.
Mississippi State (1-1) came back to earth a bit, though, this past weekend in a surprising 21-14 home loss to Arkansas. Bulldogs quarterback K.J. Costello was held to nearly half the yardage he racked up against LSU's man-to-man defense and also threw three interceptions against the Razorbacks' steady diet of zone coverages.
Still, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops knows what kind of challenge lies ahead.
"He's a lot to handle," Stoops said of Leach during his Zoom press conference Monday. "He's going to do what he does... He's as good as you get, very creative. It puts a lot of pressure on you."
That pressure falls squarely on a UK secondary that might be the team's greatest mystery to date. Last season, the Cats ranked No. 2 nationally behind only Ohio State in defending the pass. They returned nearly the entire secondary, got budding star safety Davonte Robinson back from a surgically repaired quadriceps muscle, and added a former four-star recruit in the form of LSU transfer Kelvin Joseph.
The group was expected to be perhaps the biggest strength of the team. Instead, they have seen Auburn and Ole Miss combine to complete 40 of 56 passes for 553 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. The Cats' 71.4% completion rate allowed to opposing offenses currently ranks 68th out of 74 teams playing DI football this fall. They are one of only nine teams without an interception.
Compounding the back-end issues, only four teams have fewer sacks than UK this season.
"We need to put our players in a better position," Stoops said Monday. "We need to coach better, need to play better."
The UK boss said his defensive staff is mulling some changes to their scheme to deal with the kind of tempo units face in today's college football. Both Auburn and Ole Miss played fast, and Mississippi State is expected to follow suit on Saturday at Kroger Field.
Stoops conceded that the game is changing, and perhaps some of the old standards for game statistics no longer apply.
"It has been a long time since we have given up 42 points," he said. Kentucky saw a nation-leading streak of allowing 34 points or less come to an end at 28 games against Ole Miss.
"Now, the league is changing," he continued. "I feel like we are giving up a complete boatload of yards that I am not comfortable with, but you look down there and we are sitting sixth in the league (in total defense). You know that statistics don’t mean anything other than winning and losing, but the league is changing a little bit. You look at what we were facing in Ole Miss and look at what we are facing this week with Mike, there are some teams that are extremely talented and moving the ball."
Helping the Cats' defenders get lined up and in a better position to defend against tempo is the first step to fixing the problems, Stoops said. The second is eliminating "explosive" plays.
Personnel changes could be coming, but Stoops did not indicate whether any particular defenders were at risk of losing playing time. "We have some options, but we have to find the right mix."
Although the Cats have been humbled by the 0-2 start, Stoops said they must "hit that reset button." There's no time to feel sorry for yourself when you're playing a 10-game SEC schedule.
“Really kind of excited to get back at it," he added. "It was a miserable defeat and feeling Saturday but extremely motivated on Sunday and Monday because you know you got another great challenge ahead of you. It re-invigorates you and gets your juices going because it’s going to be a challenge."
