An Early Look at LSU Football's Matchup With Kentucky
Kentucky enters this game riding a wave of momentum after a 5-0 start that was most recently extended with a win over previous top 10 team Florida. The Wildcats controlled the Gators on defense, holding Dan Mullen and company to just one touchdown drive and forcing punts and field goals.
A sloppy game from start to finish for Florida really helped Kentucky pull out this win as 15 penalties for 115 yards ultimately did the Gators in and the Kentucky offense capitalized just enough to pull off the upset. Now the Tigers must enter hostile territory against a team riding high with momentum and earned a No. 16 bid in the top 25 after Saturday's win.
The strength of this Kentucky team is its defense. It's been in the upper echelon of defenses by SEC standards all season, is a unit that will get after an offense and plays very tight in coverage with 18 pass breakups this season. Kentucky's secondary is allowing just 180 yards passing per contest, among the top 30 teams in the country and No. 5 in the SEC.
LSU's passing offense has been its strength this season but when there's pressure on quarterback Max Johnson, all bets are off. The running game for the Tigers has been putrid to put it nicely, ranking dead last in the SEC and among the worst in the country. Kentucky is also top 25 in the country in rushing defense, allowing just 104 yards on the ground per game which will make it extremely tough for this LSU offense to find a rhythm.
Outside linebacker J.J. Weaver and inside linebacker DeAndre Square are the two leaders of this defense through five weeks of the season. Weaver has 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss while Square has 37 tackles which leads the team.
As for this offense, the Wildcats rely heavily on running back Christopher Rodriguez Jr., who leads the conference in rushing yards with 621 on the ground with four touchdowns. His 104 carries leads the SEC and will be a player LSU will need to key on defensively.
LSU's defense has made strides in stopping the run over the last few weeks, most recently against Tank Bigsby and Auburn where the LSU defense shut down the run game for three quarters. Auburn would take advantage of a tired LSU defense late on a game winning 92-yard drive at the end of the fourth quarter dictated by the run.
Wan'Dale Robinson is a name to know in the receiving game, leading the Wildcats in catches, yards and touchdowns through the air. In the end, this game will come down to how this offense responds to its dud against Auburn.
If the offense can go on some long drives and keep the defense fresh, LSU has an opportunity to get a win here. But there's just so much work this team needs that it's hard to trust what this group will look like a week from now.
