Kentucky may need to speed up their offense when they fall behind

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Kentucky had a 10-0 lead at Mississippi State last season before the Bulldogs scored 31 straight points and won 31-17. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Kentucky is not going to run a fast-paced offense with Mark Stoops as the head coach. His defensive genes prefer a slower pace but he also says the NFL lingo/play calls take longer to communicate and he also likes to have his team huddle — factors that make it hard to rush snaps.

However, Stoops acknowledged Monday when his team falls behind like it did against South Carolina last week the slower pace can be “difficult” and might need changing.

“There are things that are fair criticism you need to look at. When you’re behind it’s very noticeable. Part of the thing with the pro system, verbiage, time with a new quarterback. The operation takes some time,” the UK coach said.

Several SEC teams like a faster tempo, including Mississippi State. Coach Mike Leach brings his team to Kroger Field Saturday hoping to extend UK’s two-game losing streak.

“They’re not trying to go as fast as Ole Miss or Tennessee, the high tempo teams,” Stoops said. “That’s Mike Leach offenses, they are very efficient. They are at 72 percent completion percentage. They’re running the ball this year over 100 yards a game, throwing it for over 350 and high completion percentage.”

“(Quarterback) Will (Rogers) is very, very comfortable back there. It’s hard, because as you pressure, they have answers. They are very efficient getting the ball down the field, so there’s always that fine line when you play them and you watch everybody try a lot of different ways. They are very good at completing the ball down the field, you got great coverage, (they make) back shoulder catches, they have answers to a lot of things.”

Stoops says his team has to worry about itself after making so many mistakes in losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina. Kentucky lost at Mississippi State last season and Stoops still remembers how many tackles UK missed in Starkville along with yards after the catch State had.

“That’s what they do, all those things, but again you mix it up, you bring pressure and they can get it down the field as well,” Stoops said.

Kentucky limited South Carolina to just 90 yards in the first half last week but then gave up 17 points and 266 yards the second half.

“Very disappointing when, I mentioned this postgame, with the things that happened in the first half, to tie it at 7-7 and playing very good defense to that point, to come out and give up a long drive for a touchdown to start doesn’t help things at all,” Stoops said.

“So yes, it (goes) back to not very good complementary football, us not getting first downs and getting negative yardage plays. So, defense we need to get off the field and offense we need to sustain drives.”

2 Responses

  1. Why not run a fast-paced offense? Why not have 13 or 14 possessions a game rather than UK’s average of just over 10? The national average is between 11 and 12 possessions per game.

    Keeping the defense off the field depends on the defense getting stops, not stopping the UK offense from scoring "too fast"

    What matters is points allowed or scored per possession over the course of a season, not the absolute number of points scored or allowed.

    The problem with this team is an inept offense and kicking squads that play more like the keystone cops than a precision drill team. Those factors keep the defense rocked back on their heels, not the pace of the game.

  2. I am not in favor of up tempo offenses for the Cats. Unless you are very efficient at making 1st downs, the up tempo works against you by allowing the other team on the field more often. Our lack of consistency does not lend itself well to up tempo. To beat MS, you have to keep their offense off the field. That means grinding it out and chewing up clock. If we try to trade touchdowns with MS and beat them by having the ball last, we will lose. They can score more quickly and with greater consistency.

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