Florida vs. Kentucky: Three key matchups with PFF stats that could decide the game

The Florida Gators travel to Lexington, KY. this Saturday in an attempt to avenge their loss to the Wildcats in 2018 - a loss that ended Florida's 31-game win streak over their SEC rival.

Kentucky will be starting a new face at quarterback in junior Sawyer Smith, as previous starter, Terry Wilson, tore a patellar tendon in his left knee this past weekend against Eastern Michigan. Wilson will miss the rest of the 2019 season.

Smith, who transferred to Kentucky from Troy, has 18 games of experience and six starts under his belt. He's posted a career stat-line of 167-263 for 1926 yards (63.5%), 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions, adding 269 yards and two scores on the ground.

Losing Wilson hurts Kentucky, as his dual-threat ability was an asset to their offense. However, Smith has enough experience to be trusted by Kentucky, and he's got a pretty solid arm.

With that being said, which three personnel matchups do Gators fans need to keep an eye on this week against Kentucky? We will be adding stats from Pro Football Focus to these stories to add context to each matchup.

Smith vs. Florida's pass rush

Snith has shown some flashes, including the throw above and in his time at Troy. However, he has struggled when facing pressure. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith has a career 43.6 completion percentage under pressure. He hasn't thrown an interception on any of those 54 dropbacks, but he has taken nine sacks, finding the ground about 17% of the time.

PFF crowned Florida pass rushers Jabari Zuniga and Jonathan Greenard as two of the top three pass rushers in college football. That tandem paired with the rest of Florida's pass rush - a group that has recorded 63 pressures and 15 sacks in two games will always threaten opposing offenses, however, Kentucky's offensive line has only allowed four pressures this year.

This could end up being an iron-sharpening-iron matchup with both sides making nice plays. I'd give Florida's defense the edge here with the incredible pass-rushing production we've seen from the group against Smith, but don't sleep on the Wildcats ability to protect the passer. The Gators might not record five or more sacks this week like they have the past two.

Florida's WRs vs. Kentucky's secondary

The Wildcats don't have too strong of a secondary this season, which should be music to Florida's ears as quarterback Feleipe Franks is coming off of a 25-27 (92.6%), 270 yard and two touchdown performance against UT-Martin.

Brandon Echols, who is listed as the team's backup cornerback on the depth chart, is actually a player to watch for. He has allowed 43.8 completion percentage in coverage, with only seven of his 16 targets being hauled in, for a total of 58 yards. Echols has also nabbed three pass breakups.

Other than Echols, the rest of the secondary has been inconsistent. Starting cornerback Jamari Brown has a similar comp.% allowed at 44.4%, but has given up 111 passing yards and a touchdown on the four catches he's allowed on nine targets. Opposite starting cornerback Cedric Dort has posted a comp.% allowed of 25%, but he's only been targeted four times, and one reception went for 22 yards.

No other member of the secondary has allowed a completion percentage of less than 60%, including both starting safeties Jordan Griffin and Yusuf Corker. For the most part, Florida shouldn't have any issues throwing the deep ball, as only 32 of the 191 passing yards allowed by the three players above came after the catch.

Run game for both teams

Florida and Kentucky have a bunch of talent in their respective run games. Florida hasn't exactly hit its stride yet in that respect, but Kentucky appears to have done so.

The Gators have posted 302 yards on 64 carries, with 41 of those yards coming from Franks scrambling four times. Therefore, Florida is only averaging 4.35 yards on designed runs, compared to the Wildcats' 5.66 on 70 designed runs.

The Wildcats have rushed for five touchdowns and 24 first downs. Asim Rose and Kavosiey Smoke are averaging 6.9 yards per carry on 51 carries, and have two touchdowns apiece.

Florida has to find a way to get their run game flowing, but Kentucky will make it difficult. The Wildcats' defense has posted 46 "stops" this season, meaning they've made 46 tackles that constituted a "failure" of a play for the offense. 37 of those stops came from tackle box defenders.

The result of this game could very well come down to how well Florida can both run the ball and stop Kentucky from doing the same. Franks and the pass rush having good games will certainly help the Gators, but this team has the personnel of a dangerous rushing attack. They need to get more out of their rushing attack, as well as prevent the Wildcats from running down their throats to control the game.