Key Kentucky Players Who Could Give Auburn Tigers Fits

As the Auburn Tigers get set to take on Kentucky, here are three opposing players who could cause trouble on Saturday

The Auburn Tigers have to shut down these players to have a winning effort | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Despite a season of struggle in which Auburn football has found itself with a less-than-ideal record of 4-4, the Tigers enter this week’s matchup against Kentucky as a 77.1% favorite to win. This isn’t entirely due to the Tigers’ prowess, as the offense has certainly hit some bumps in the road, but it’s a good sign for a Tiger team that’s been favored in just one of its SEC matchups.

Kentucky isn’t exactly the best team this year; they’ve yet to win an SEC game, and have in fact only emerged victorious against Toledo and Eastern Michigan, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have playmakers that could challenge this Auburn squad. 

Here’s a look at three key Wildcats that may make this Saturday a trap game for the Tigers.

Cutter Boley - Quarterback

Cutter Boley is far from the best quarterback Auburn’s faced this year, but he’s not the worst either. He’s ranked 11th in the SEC by QBR, which sounds low until one looks a bit lower on the list and sees Jackson Arnold ranked at 15 out of 16. 

Boley’s completed 66.5% of his passes this season for just over 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns, while rushing for an additional 76 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries, for an average of 1.9 yards per carry.

Boley’s kryptonite this year seems to be his touchdown-to-interception ratio, as he’s thrown nine touchdowns to five interceptions. If the Tigers can force uncomfortable throws from Boley, something almost every SEC team has been able to do, Rayshawn Pleasant and company may be able to bolster their turnover stats.

Seth McGowan - Running Back

Similar to Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy, the Wildcat offense seems to depend heavily on the running game, and Seth McGowan has been the man for the job in Lexington. He’s rushed for 476 yards on 93 carries, good for 5.1 yards per touch on average. 

The difference McGowan provides, though, isn’t rushing yards; it’s touchdowns. McGowan has accounted for nearly half of the Wildcats’ touchdowns on his own, scoring seven of 16 total Kentucky scores. 

However, Auburn’s displayed an incredible ability to limit the run this season, including dominant showings against the aforementioned Ahmad Hardy. The conference’s leading rusher made a habit of eclipsing 100 yards per game fairly consistently until he was put up against the Tigers, who held him to just 58 yards on 24 carries.

If the Tigers can shut down McGowan’s production, then the Wildcats will be forced to lean on Cutter Boley, who’s been inconsistent this season, to say the least.

Alex Afari, Jr. - Linebacker

Of course, an Auburn team that has yet to name a quarterback for the matchup as of Thursday will be susceptible to strong defensive play. Thankfully for the Tigers, though, the Wildcats seem to have struggled on that front as well.

Alex Afari, Jr., leads the Wildcats in tackles on the season with 43, 26 of which were on his own. Auburn has two defenders who’ve already eclipsed that mark: Xavier Atkins with 61 and Robert Woodyard, Jr. with 44, though perhaps Atkins isn’t a fair comparison.

Afari boasts a sack on the season for a team that’s struggled to get to the quarterback; the Wildcats have accumulated just 11 sacks in seven games, with just a single player amassing more than 1.5. 

Despite how it may seem, the SEC is a conference of “any given Saturday,” meaning any team could take down any other team on any day, regardless of how any team has looked up until that point. The Tigers have been making significant changes to their offense, so their adjustment period may be all the Wildcats need to spring a trap on the Tigers.

The Tigers take on the Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. CDT this Saturday in a game that’ll be broadcast on SEC Network.