Vanderbilt Coach Calls Kentucky Offense “challenging”

Vicky Graff Photo

If Kentucky’s offense is struggling the way many UK fans seem to think it has for three games then Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea must be watching a different team going into Saturday’s game in Nashville against the Wildcats.

“Obviously, they’re very challenging. They have good skill, first of all, and I think they’ve done a really nice job there of supplementing the roster they have through the (transfer) portal. They’ve added some critical pieces in the line and skill positions, the quarterback position, so they challenge you with their personnel,” Lea said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference Wednesday.

Vanderbilt is 2-2 going into Saturday’s game and did win at UK last season but is an underdog at home for this game. Leary was defensive coordinator at Notre Dame before coming to Vandy in 2021 when Liam Coen was UK’s offensive coordinator. The Cats won 34-17 that year. Last season Coen was not at UK and Vandy won to break a 26-game SEC losing streak.

“Coach Coen does a great job with the scheme and there are lines of pro-style offense all the way through it. You’ve got reduced formation, shift of motion, multiple tight ends, O-line in different locations to do different things,” Lea said.

What makes Coen’s pro-style offense so different?

“The challenge defensively is understanding how they’re using formation to create space to get you in certain leverages to find open windows to throw the ball,” Lea said.  “How they’re moving you with shifts and motions to try to establish run game and leverage in the run game, I think they’re really good at that.

“Then there’s some creative ways just to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers too.”

Vandy lost to Wake Forest and UNLV and has wins over Hawaii and Alabama A&M. None of those teams, though, had the overall talent or offensive schemes quite like Kentucky according to Lea.

“When you’re doing it with good personnel, you really have to be structured and disciplined defensively and you’ve got to know what you’re doing too because if you don’t, they can create explosives and play keep away from you and that can make for a frustrating game,” the Vanderbilt coach said.